Jeffrey Soffer, a prominent real estate billionaire, has closed a deal to buy South Florida’s former Mardi Gras Casino and Race Track, local media reported. Now called “The Big Easy Casino,” the slot area has been closed since heavily damaged by Hurricane Irma in September 2017. Poker, simulcast wagering and the dog track are open.
Soffer’s 831 Federal Highway Acquisition company will receive a slot machine license upon payment of $2 million for the license fee and a $250,000 regulatory fee. The sale ends 40-year ownership of the Hallandale Beach facility by Hartman & Tyner (H&T), a Michigan property management firm.
The Soffer family controls the Turnberry Associates real estate development company and also owns Miami Beach’s historic Fontainebleau Resort.
Terms of the Mardi Gras purchase were not disclosed, but is believed the price for the nearly 28-acre property is in $12.5 million range, according to local reports.
Soffer spearheaded his company’s “mansions in the sky” concept bringing it to Las Vegas by creating the first high-rise condominium community overlooking The Strip. He also partnered with MGM Resorts to build The Residences at MGM Grand, which includes three completed 40-story towers on the Las Vegas casino-hotel’s property.