In yet another twist in the Fontainebleau construction saga, the owners of the in-progress resort have amended the billion lawsuit filed against its creditors, accusing lender Deutsche Bank of sabotaging Fontainebleau in order to make its own new resort, the Cosmopolitan, more successful.
In the filing, Fontainebleau Las Vegas accused Deutsche Bank of “seeking to destroy the Fontainebleau in order to minimize the competition” against the Cosmopolitan, which is scheduled to open in 2010.
The lawsuit also alleges that Deutsche Bank had persuaded Fontainebleau’s other lenders to pull the rest of the resort’s funding, and is undermining Fontainebleau Las Vegas’ attempts to negotiate with its other lenders.
The Fontainebleau is struggling to convince its lenders to release funding to finish the project. Eleven banks, including Deutsche Bank, collectively pulled $770 million in financing. Deutsche Bank alone pulled $80 million. Workers have been laid off and construction largely halted until negotiations are completed.
