Learning that her job at the Primm Valley Casino Resort will be eliminated on July 4 was distressing for Megan Miller. 

It got even worse after she discovered she and hundreds of other tenants would have to move out of the apartment she leases from the casino company two days after the resort near the California-Nevada border closes.

"It's unsettling," said Miller, who lives in the apartment complex in the shadow of the shuttered Desperado roller coaster, which hasn't operated since the pandemic. With three children younger than 15 and her boyfriend also soon to be out of work after nearly two decades in Primm, unrooting isn't easy. 

"We're looking at apartments in Las Vegas, but it's not simple. You're required to pay deposits up [front] and some require employment," she said.

That's one reason Miller launched a GoFundMe account to help with moving expenses. As she sat on her sofa last week, contemplating moving her family somewhere in Las Vegas or Henderson, she pointed toward a stack of boxes for packing her belongings. She was thankful they came from a local thrift store free of charge.

"We need the money now. We haven't been able to save for anything living out here," Miller said. "How do I word it? [The operators] didn't really push [salaries] past the minimum wage."

In a letter to the state's Department of Employment, Training, and Rehabilitation (DETR) on May 5, Primm Valley Casino Resort operator Affinity Gaming said the closure would result in 344 employees losing their jobs. According to one source familiar with Primm, nearly 250 of the workers live in the employee housing.

Affinity spokeswoman Melissa Krantz wrote in an email that the company was "working closely with its employees. There are four meetings scheduled to provide information on public services available to employees at Primm during the transition."

Yvette Cartsen routinely drives two hours from her home in Apple Valley, California to the resort. She called the community — 40 miles south of the Strip —  a second home and described the workers as her family. 

"There are people in Primm who have no idea what to do or where to go, let alone afford a down payment," said Cartsen, who also started a GoFundMe page to help her friends. She said their biggest challenge is being forced to work through July 4 to get that last paycheck.

Primm Valley, the last of three resorts in the community, will close on that day, along with the Primm Valley Lotto Store and a majority of the other services in the area.  

Las Vegas-based Affinity Gaming, which New York-based hedge fund Z Capital controls, acquired the Primm casino operations in the 2010 bankruptcy reorganization of Herbst Gaming. The company, which owns the off-Strip Silver Sevens Hotel and Casino and three small casinos in the Midwest, has struggled to operate the complex following the recession and through the pandemic. 

James Zenni, the founder of Z Capital who steered efforts to control Affinity, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Nevada gaming regulators are expected to question Affinity CEO Scott Butera about Primm and the pending shutdown on Thursday in Las Vegas during a special hearing regarding the sportsbook at Silver Sevens.

In a November 2024 interview with The Nevada Independent, Butera called Primm "a unique asset. What we want to do is figure out what we can do there. That's what we're focused on, so we can create a special experience." 

Three months later, Butera told the Control Board, "Primm was built for what [Las Vegas] looked like 30 years ago," but said the company was coming up with a plan. 

"It doesn't need another casino," he said. "It could have something as a feature for families in the Las Vegas area who want to get away. There are a lot of options for it to complement our plan."

Affinity executives have declined to comment on the Primm situation. In letters sent to employees living at the apartments last week, Affinity told the residents that rent payments and utility costs would not be deducted from May 13 through July 6.

Several Primm employees and other sources said they were told by management not to speak with the media about the pending closure. When The Nevada Independent visited Primm on May 13, several employees agreed to talk but asked not to be identified. 

Housing and job help

DETR spokeswoman Valentina Bonaparte said the agency's rapid response team would coordinate directly with other state services to identify available resources for Primm employees losing their homes and jobs. She said DETR is seeking ways for the displaced workers and their families to receive support that covers re-employment services, emergency rental assistance and case management.

Cartsen said she knows of some Primm workers who are pooling their resources to lease an apartment in Laughlin and look for jobs with the eight resorts in the Colorado River gaming community.

One longtime Primm customer from Southern California, who dates a casino employee and is close with several workers, said, despite rumoured closures, the shutdown was still "unexpected."

"The casino's management has been unstable. Employees lack faith in the current operators," said the customer, who didn't want his name used because his girlfriend is still employed at the property. "Personally, we all didn't think it would ever close. I've been coming here for a long time with my parents. So much has disappeared. It's not the same place anymore."

On the north side of Interstate 15, where Whiskey Pete's has been closed for more than a year, and the hotel's marquee advertises messages for the Rio Las Vegas, drivers stopping at the Flying J Truck Stop are pondering where to gas up and rest. The location has 10 fuel lanes and multiple showers and facilities for drivers. One trucker said he would rely on Flying J's corporate offices to provide alternate facilities. 

Several businesses within the Primm complex are not closing because they are under lease agreements separate from the casinos. However, managers are concerned since some employees live in the soon-to-be-closed apartments.

"We're going to be open, but I'm not sure how it will be staffed," said Carl's Jr. Manager Marshal Stallworth. "All my employees live in the apartments. We don't have a shuttle service from Las Vegas."

A manager for Taco Bell said a few employees are affected by the apartment shutdown, but the restaurant operates a shuttle to and from Las Vegas.

At McDonald's, manager Julia Cisneros said the future of the store remains unclear.

Meanwhile, the only operating tenant in the 380,000-square-foot Primm Outlet Mall will remain open.

Sanithrift Manager Devin Lore told The Nevada Independent last week that the second-hand store is on a separate lease from the casinos and will remain open through the entrance from the parking lot that faces Interstate 15.

"We've been open since December 2021 and we have no plans to close," he said.

Once a draw, now an eyesore

Some of Primm's troubles have been tied to the closure of the Primm Valley Golf Club in July 2024, 6 miles south in San Bernardino County. The two 18-hole courses were designed by noted golf course architect Tom Fazio —  who created Shadow Creek in North Las Vegas for Steve Wynn and Summit Golf Club in Summerlin — and were a key draw for visitors to Primm, with players often staying at the three hotels.

They were operated by MGM Resorts International and retained by the gaming giant when it sold its Primm operations to Herbst Gaming for $400 million in 2007.

However, the courses were sold to the same owners of Legacy Golf Club in Henderson two years ago and have not been operated since the sale. The fairways have dried up, many trees and other foliage have died and the course entrance is fenced off.

"We saw a lot of regular guests because of the golf courses," said one longtime employee who is still employed at Primm Valley. "After they closed, we never saw a lot of those customers again."

Meanwhile, 23-year-old Isaac Rea of Los Angeles, who has been coming with his family to Primm since he was a teenager, has advanced from the arcade to the slot floor. On a Wednesday morning, he was playing slot machines in the sparsely filled Primm casino with his mother, Liana Ramirez. 

They lamented that this might be their last trip to Primm.

"I've stayed at all the hotels, but everything has changed. It's kind of sad," he said.