Barden defaults on $200 million loan

I'm headed to the Jersey shore tomorrow morning and won't be around to link to the full Post-Gazette story on the matter, but here's today's update on the full-blown disaster that is now the Majestic Star casino. According to the report, Barden is officially in default of a $200 million loan for the casino and is requesting a new financing plan that would make some real-estate fund the majority owner of the casino. (Barden's share would drop to 25 percent, although he would remain the "principal licensee" ... whatever the hell that means. Principal -- maybe. Principled -- no.)

I tell ya, Ravenstahl's got to be shitting in his Underoos about now. Pittsburgh needs the Majestic Star to be a glittering North Shore jewel, complete with packed restaurants, varied shopping options and that fancy river amphitheatre, not some ugly multi-story hunk of concrete that sits lifeless on the river while inside those jonesing for just one more pull on the slot machine fork over their paychecks. Who would you trust in making sure it's the former and not the latter -- the gung-ho businessman who you can look in the eye and remind of the promises he made or the faceless real-estate-fund operators who really just want to recoup their $120 million investment?