LOS ANGELES - Penn National Gaming Inc is considering acquiring the unfinished Fontainebleau resort, which sits toward the northern end of the Las Vegas Strip, the U.S. casino and racetrack operator's chief financial officer said on Wednesday.

Clearly we're looking at it, CFO William Clifford said during a webcast investor meeting. We're looking at lots of properties in Las Vegas.

He called Fontainebleau, which filed for bankruptcy in June after lenders cut off funding, actionable, but a tough project, given that it will take around $2 billion to finish the 3,800-room resort.

Quite candidly, it is worth about zero right now, Clifford said.

Penn, which has said over the past year that it was shopping for a Las Vegas resort, operates gambling properties throughout the United States, but not in Atlantic City or Las Vegas.

Clifford said Penn is seeking a Vegas property so that it can maximize returns from patrons of its wide regional distribution network.

There is some real potential there for us, he said. (Reporting by Deena Beasley, editing by Leslie Gevirtz)

Pennsylvania