page_title: Cal Neva Lodge & Casino
section_title: Later period
hierarchical_section_title: Cal Neva Lodge & Casino / History / Later period
caption_attribution_description: Hotel once owned by Frank Sinatra
context_page_description: Cal Neva Resort & Casino, previously known as the Calneva Resort and Cal-Neva Lodge, is a resort and casino straddling the border between Nevada and California on the shores of Lake Tahoe. The original building was constructed in 1926, and became famous when the national media picked up a story about actress Clara Bow cancelling checks she owed to the Cal-Neva worth $13,000 in 1930. After burning down in a fire in 1937, the structure was rebuilt in only 30 days. In 1960, entertainer Frank Sinatra purchased the Resort alongside Dean Martin and Chicago mobster Sam Giancana.
  Under Sinatra, the Celebrity Room was added alongside a helipad and it opened year round. His ownership gradually increased over the following two years until he owned 50 percent outright. But Giancana's attendance at the property first provoked a rift between Sinatra and share holder Hank Sanicola, and later resulted in Sinatra's gambling license being suspended by the Nevada Gaming Control Board. Sinatra initially leased the property to Jack L. Warner and later in 1968 to a group of investors. It passed through the hands of a series of investment groups until 1976 when it was bought by Kirk Kerkorian.
context_section_description: After leasing it to Warner for four years, Sinatra sought to sell the property to Howard Hughes in 1967 as part of the renewal of his contract at the Sands Hotel and Casino. Following a fallout between Hughes and Sinatra, the entertainer instead signed a contract with Caesars Palace. This included a requirement for Sinatra's stake in Cal Neva to be purchased by his new employer for $2 million, but instead the lodge passed into the hands of the same owners as Reno's Club Cal-Neva in 1968 for $1.4 million.
  The new owners oversaw the construction of a ten-story expansion to the property. This added a further 200 rooms to the lodge, for which permission was given although the Nevada State Park Advisory Committee opposed the move. They sought to re-open the Cal Neva on July 1, 1969, but instead it partly opened in May of that year with the new expansion opening the following month. The Ohio Real Estate Investment Trust purchased the lodge in 1970 for $6 million, with the aim to lease it to the U.S. Capital Corporation, who in turn sought to sublease it to Tahoe Crystal Bay Inc. The stockholders of the Ohio Real Estate Investment Trust filed a lawsuit against the company in 1973, which resulted in the Cal Neva being placed into federal receivership. After opening year round since Sinatra purchased the lodge, it closed for the winter season in 1974 due to a drop in visitors blamed on the 1973 oil crisis.
  The Cal Neva was sold in 1975 alongside the Crystal Bay Club to BKJ Corporation, who consisted of Everett Brunzell, Charles Ketchum and Norman Jenson. The two clubs were purchased for a total of $9 million. But their licensing application for Cal Neva was turned down by the Nevada Gaming Commission due to a their lack of ongoing finances. The First National Bank of Nevada foreclosed on the property in early 1976 before selling it to Kirk Kerkorian, a significant shareholder in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He owned the Cal Neva through his Tracinda Investment Corporation, a different entity than the one through which he owns his MGM shares. As part of the re-launch of the lodge, he convinced Dean Martin to return for a performance, for which Cary Grant was also in attendance.
  Jon Perroton was arrested in 1985 for fraud after convincing Hibernia National Bank to loan him $23 million towards the purchase price of Cal Neva. He had claimed that he had the backing of Sheraton Hotels and Resorts. He was subsequently sentenced to 20 years in custody. That same year, the lodge was purchased by real estate developer Chuck Bluth. Under Bluth, the building was renovated and the exterior of the main building restored to how it looked in the 1960s. 
  On September 10–12, 1993, the lodge hosted the second annual Daow Aga Pow wow (a local Native American meeting) on Lake Tahoe. The hotel was named "Nevada's Best Getaway" in 1998 and cited as one of America's 50 Flagship Hotels.
  Bluth sold the lodge to Ezri Namvar in 2005. However the casino was in severe decline; by 2009 the revenue was around half of that which it received in 1992. Canyon Capital Advisors foreclosed on a $25 million loan, and an auction open across two states failed to result in any bidders. The area had seen several other casinos nearby close around the same time.
caption: The Cal Neva Resort in 2007
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