Three of Chicago-based
Nicholas S. Gouletas’ daughters were among the original investors in
Atwater Entertainment Associates LLC (AEA), the entity that pushed to legalize gaming in Detroit during the mid-1990s and then eventually morphed into
MotorCity Casino which opened its doors in 1999 with financing from, and under the management control of, Las Vegas-based
Mandalay Resort Group (
Circus Circus).
A
Web site which lists the names of AEA investors includes the names of
Andrea Desiree Gouletas (born Oct. 1969);
Deanna Eileen Gouletas (born Oct. 1960) and
Victoria Michelle Gouletas (born May 1974). They are three of Nicholas Gouletas’ six children.
AEA was formed in 1995 by Detroiter
Herb Strather and a partner
Nellie Varner to syndicate financial interest and raise capital needed to advance their local casino plans. At that time, the Gouletas sisters’ ages would have ranged from about 21 – 35 years old.
Crain's Detroit indicates that
many AEA investors were also investors in AtMashpee, LLC, another casino syndication organized by Strather to raise the money he needed to bankroll the
Mashpee Wampanoag Indian tribe's effort win federal recognition and build a casino resort on
Cape Cod. That tribe’s former chairman has been
under federal investigation and has agreed to plea guilty to federal campaign contribution violations and charges of fraud.
AtMashpee enabled his wrong doing by dumping $4 million into a hidden fund.
It’s not clear if the Gouletas family is helping to bankroll that plan for a large scale Massachusetts casino resort.
As owners of
American Invsco, the Gouletas family carries one of the most highly recognizable names in Chicago real estate. Siblings
Nicholas S. "Nick" Gouletas,
Evangeline “Engie” Gouletas and
Vincent Goulet (he changed his last name) established American Invsco four decades ago (1969).
Today, the privately held real estate conglomerate is one of the leading developers of condominiums in the U.S. Nicholas is chairman and CEO of American Invsco and his son
Steven is president. The Gouletas were pioneers in the business of condo conversions and the development of luxury hi-rise residential buildings. It is reported that American Invsco has developed and marketed over 45,000 condominiums in more than 40 cities across the U.S. with property values in excess of $4 billion.
In 1981, while attending
Ronald Reagan’s 1st Inauguration,
Engie Gouletas met then-New York Governor
Hugh L. Carey, a widower; and they were married less than four months later. In 1998, she left American Invsco and formed
Skyline Equities Realty LLC in part because of a long running feud with her brother Nicholas.
As one of the largest condo developers in the U.S., American Invsco and its affiliates haven’t been without controversy throughout the years.
Most recently, the
Las Vegas Review Journal has reported on a class-action lawsuit being brought by those who purchased units in an American Invsco project known as
The Meridian, located at
250 E. Flamingo Road, just one block from the famed
Las Vegas Strip.
Curiously,
a 10.17.08 Review Journal article indicates that
Meridian Private Residence CH LLC, a so-called “affiliate" of an unrevealed Detroit-based venture capital fund, had been quietly bankrolling the start-up of American Invsco’s Meridian property.
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