The Miami bankruptcy judge presiding over the Fontainebleau Las Vegas this week toured the unfinished casino tower.

He called it ``a magnificent project'' that fell victim to tragic timing.

``Unfortunately, if it had started three years ago or three years from now, it wouldn't be in this situation,'' Judge A. Jay Cristol said at a Thursday hearing to approve another $600,000 to fund the Vegas project's fifth month in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Aventura developer Jeffrey Soffer launched the Vegas Fontainebleau in 2007, in the middle of a $500 million renovation of the Fontainebleau Miami Beach, which he bought in 2005. After $2 billion was spent in construction funds, estimates peg the cost to finish the Fontainebleau Las Vegas at nearly $1.5 billion.

Soffer is trying to sell the Vegas tower to casino operator Penn National Gaming, which has offered ``substantially'' less than $300 million for the unfinished project, according to Soffer lawyer Scott Baena.

Baena said he hopes to present a final deal to Cristol next, clearing the way for an auction of the property. Cristol walked through the construction site Monday while in Las Vegas for a judicial conference, joined by about 40 lawyers and others involved in the case.

Thanks to the ``worldwide economic situation,'' Cristol said, ``we have a problem that unfortunately exists, which timing could have overcome. But no point in beating that horse.''

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