WINNEMUCCA — It was announced last week the Model T and four other northern Nevada casinos were being foreclosed.  According to the announcement everything, including the slot machines, would be auctioned off on the courthouse steps on December 23 – two days before Christmas.

Would someone really shut the doors on the Model T, and the 171 people working there, days before Christmas?  It was like something out of a Dickens novel.

But wait. According to  Jeff Silver, the attorney for Northern Nevada Asset Holdings (NNAH), all is not as it seems.  NNAH is  brokering a deal that would keep the doors open and people employed.

NNAH was the company holding the note for borrowed funds when the Holder Hospitality Group (who owns and operates the Model T) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.  According to court documents, the Holder Group was unable to reorganize in a timely manner.  NNAH filed a motion with the federal bankruptcy court to foreclose on the property and auction off the assets.  The motion was granted.

However, nothing is stopping NNAH from buying the property themselves and leasing it to someone else to operate, Silver noted.

In fact, there’s already an experienced gaming firm working to acquire the necessary permits to lease the properties.  That firm is 777 Gaming, of Las Vegas, whose representatives are obtaining the necessary business licenses and will go before the gaming board today as part of the process.

What will happen to the 171 people currently employed at the Model T? “Nothing is going to happen to those employees,” Silver said. “There will be no closure, no disruption, all employees retained, it will be business as usual at the Model T.”

He later added, “The property will remain open until such time as the successor can be licensed and approved to continue operations.”

As for the long notices of public auction that have appeared in newspapers, Silver explained it was part of the legal process.  “When there’s a foreclosure on a piece of property you have to do a public auction.  That doesn’t mean (NNAH) can’t bid on the property, and they intend to do that.”  Silver said anyone could show up to bid but in order to operate it they would have to have a gaming license.  “The chance of someone not already licensed intending to acquire it is very low,” he said.

Silver concluded by pointing out the benefits of the new ownership.  “The Holder Group was in bankruptcy.  They had limited resources to provide for such things as capital improvements because they were being pushed financially.  This is a breath of new life and reorganization.”

Events are moving quickly.  777 Gaming is on the Gaming Board agenda today.  Silver explained the Gaming Board makes the recommendation for a gaming license, but it’s the Gaming Commission who issues the license.  They’ll be before the commission on December 17.

Silver said if they’re approved, and the bankruptcy court approves the sale, there will be a new owner (NNAH) and a new operator (777 Gaming).  In the mean time the Holder Group will continue to operate the casino.