Kwasniewski is quite familiar with the Hard Rock Hotel &Casino. Prior to joining Starwood Capital Group, he spent two yearsas the property's VP of operations on behalf of Peter Morton, whoin May agreed to sell the property and an adjacent 23-acre parcelto Morgan's Hotel Group for $770 million. Kevin Kelley, the formerPresident of Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, resigned shortly afterthe sale was announced.

Prior to working under Kelley at the Hard Rock, Kwasniewskiserved as EVP of operations for Starwood Hotels & ResortsWorldwide, where he had responsibility for the daily operations of220 owned and managed hotel properties in North America. Prior tothat, he held similar positions at Starwood Lodging Corp. andSheraton Hotels.

In addition to owning the Hard Rock Hotel and eventuallydeveloping the adjacent land, MHG will be developing two hotelsbearing MHG's Delano and Mondrian brands within Boyd Gaming's5,300-unit Eschelon Place development. The $2.9-billion developmentwill replace the Stardust Casino, which will be shuttered beforeyear's end.