While the Las Vegas Strip contains some of the most iconic hotel/casinos in the world, it also has some failures. Nearly every major property is on the site of a once iconic brand that has outlived its time, dated or simply lost the glitz and glamor of whatever new mega-resort casino is being built.
In the past few months, we’ve learned that the Mirage, which was built in 1989, will soon make way for a Guitar Hotel after MGM Resorts International (MGM) – Get MGM Resorts International Report sold the property to Hard Rock International. And while parts of the original property will survive, the site’s famous volcano will not.
In addition, Caesar’s Entertainment (CZR) – Get Caesars Entertainment Inc Report plans to rebrand his Bally’s property on the Las Vegas Strip under its Horsehoe Brand. That move made more sense when it became known that that casino’s namesake, Bally’s Corporation (BALY) – Get Bally’s Corporation Report had bought the Tropicana and was going to redevelop it into a hotel/casino under the name of the Bally.
The 4.2 mile stretch of Las Vegas Blvd. known as the Strip, it has undergone constant churn, but one site has been in a state of turmoil since 2005. Now it looks like this site, which sits on the north side of the Las Vegas Strip, directly adjacent to the Las Vegas Convention Center, can finally call itself a home in an oft-delayed casino.
What’s Coming to the Las Vegas Strip?
The Fontainebleau Las Vegas has been in the works since 2005 under various owners. Now owned by Fontainebleau Development, the company has promised a fourth quarter 2023 opening for the hotel/casino and there are signs that what the parent company will call a “67-story hotel, gaming, entertainment and meeting destination”. meet the deadline, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The newspaper reports that a huge construction crane has been seen near the building.
“Activity has been going on for some time at the long-unfinished hotel-casino project on the North Strip, which now has a ‘fb’ logo at the top of the tower, work trucks on the property, Fontainebleau Las Vegas signs along the fencing, and other signs of construction,” Eli Segall wrote for the paper. “This now includes a towering piece of equipment along Las Vegas Boulevard that, during Southern Nevada’s frenzied real estate bubble of the mid-2000s, was deployed so widely that people joked that Nevada’s state bird should be the crane.”
Originally designed as a sister property to the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami, the Las Vegas property was announced in 2005 and construction began in 2007 before the original owner went bankrupt. It was later owned by billionaire Carl Icahn, who later sold it to real estate developer Steve Witkoff, who planned to rename it Drew Las Vegas, with a scheduled opening in 2022, according to the Review-Journal.
Then the pandemic derailed those plans, before original developer Jeffrey Soffer, owner of Fontainebleau Development, “acquired the project again in February 2021 in partnership with the real estate wing of Kansas conglomerate Koch Industries,” the paper said.
The new Fontainebleau has a new leader
Should it make its debut in late 2023, Fontainebleau will join the recent addition to the Las Vegas Strip Resorts World International, along with the many properties being renovated or completely rebuilt on the famed street. In addition, Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas has also added Circa, a new high-end hotel/casino.
Fontainebleau will enter this busy space with a veteran leader Cliff Atkinson who has just been named the president of the property. A well-known Vegas operator, Atkinson previously served as “President and Chief Operating Officer of Luxor Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip, where he, among other things, implemented a robust engagement strategy to enhance employee communication and satisfaction among its 3,300 members. the team.”
Atkinson has also served as senior vice president of hotel strategy for MGM Resorts International and as general manager for Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group in Las Vegas and San Francisco.
“I feel like my entire career has prepared me for this role. It is a tremendous honor to lead Fontainebleau Las Vegas and bring the property to life,” he said in a press release.
When it finally arrives after a nearly 20-year journey, Fontainebleau Las Vegas will have more than 3,700 uniquely designed hotel rooms, more than 550,000 square feet of convention space and a collection of world-class dining and shopping, pool experiences, nightlife options, as well as a spa, according to the business.
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