In between Las Vegas's mega-resorts sit smaller properties, some kitschy and nostalgic, some practical. People who visit the Las Vegas Strip need CVS and Walgreens. and they might shop at lesser retail properties compared to the mega-malls and luxury shopping offered by Caesars Entertainment (CZR), MGM Resorts International (MGM), and other Strip operators.
As land valuations have risen on the Strip, however, it makes less sense for some properties to exist. That has led to the demise of iconic, if a bit silly, properties like the Hawaiian Marketplace shopping district and the end of countless strip malls, motels, and properties that don't meet the standards of modern Las Vegas.
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Every bit of available land on the north and south Las Vegas Strip has become a potential development site for a massive casino or retail project. Some people -- including billionaire Tilman Fertitta -- have managed to make a single purchase that could accommodate such a project, while others have patiently made smaller deals in order to cobble together the land needed for a large project.
That's what the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota (known collectively as MHA Nation) has been doing. The group has made a number of purchases along the Strip and its latest deal brings its plans a step closer to fruition (although MHA Nation has not fully shared those plans).
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Infamous Las Vegas Strip Motel Faces Wrecking Ball
MHA Nation recently closed its $10.25 million purchase of the former White Sands Motel site, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. That property, which is a small 1.1-acre tract, touches the Harvest Festival site on three sides. That property -- home to the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history -- was purchased by MHA Nation from, MGM early this year.
A rundown property surrounded by razor wire, the White Sands Motel has been vacant for about a decade. It's not a salvageable property (although it's unlikely MHA Nation would see a use for it even if it was).
The Three Affiliated Tribes are expected to tear down the property, at a cost of around $1 million, and "clean up the site," the Review-Journal reported.
MHA Nation now owns 23 somewhat contiguous acres along the Las Vegas Strip. That's enough for a major resort casino, but the group has been somewhat quiet as to its plans.
What's Next for MHA Nation's Strip Land?
The Three Affiliated Tribes may not fully know what they intend to do with their property, but having spent over $115 million on acquiring it, they likely have some idea.
"At the time of the 2020 purchase, Tribal Chairman Mark Fox said his organization could build anything from a casino to a parking lot on its new property. Fox told the Brainerd (Minn.) Dispatch, 'We saw it as an opportunity to get land -- prime real estate land — in Las Vegas for a good price, and that’s essentially why we went there,'" the Review-Journal reported.
That move has proven prescient as Strip values have only increased since the impact of the Covid pandemic has faded. A parking lot, while useful, seems much less likely than a resort casino.
Fox told the paper recently that building a resort/casino was an option as was flipping the parcel to another owner. It's also possible the tribal nation partners with a major hotel operator and runs the casino while another organization takes responsibility for the hotel operations.
No plans are imminent and the current financing situation has slowed down some Las Vegas developments including Dream Las Vegas, a boutique resort casino on the Strip near Harry Reid Airport. That project has been stopped while its owners line up new funding.
