Bogus listing claims to put Grand Sierra on market

Tom Schrade is strongly annoyed by a bogus on-line advertisement that claims the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno is for sale.

The listing on a London-based Web site, businessesforsale.com, described a five-star luxury hotel in Reno for sale for $600 million.

Although the property isn't identified in the ad, the description the setting on 140 acres, the inclusion of a bowling alley and 80,000 square feet of casino floor leaves little question it refers to Grand Sierra Resort.

But the ad isn't for real.

"It's a bogus listing," said Schrade, the president and chief executive officer of Grand Sierra Resort. "Nobody has the right to sell it."

He said company executives are aware of the online ad and had tried without success to track down the identity of the person who placed it.

Businessesforsale.com is operated by Dynamis PLC, an English company, and it requires sellers to register before they advertise a business for sale. The company says, however, that it doesn't make any guarantees that information in the listings is accurate. The company didn't respond to an e-mail request last week for more explanation.

If nothing else, the $600 million that the bogus seller claims to want for the Grand Sierra Resort would mark a healthy return for its current owners. They paid about $150 million for the former Reno Hilton in 2005 and have invested about $90 million in a renovation project.

Grand Sierra executives said in late April that they're designing the second phase of the expansion and redevelopment plan, which includes a water park.

The timing of that expansion, the company said with no pun intended, is fluid,

"Our commitment to completing this project is unwavering and we look forward to unveiling our future development plans soon," the company said in a prepared statement.

The Grand Sierra Resort is the largest hotel complex in the region with nearly 2,000 rooms, about 60,000 square feet of retail, a theater and convention space in addition to its casino.