The Las Vegas Strip always seems to be evolving with perpetual development.
Whether it's an upscale hotel and casino development, new retail or restaurant construction or building a residential condominium complex, projects are planned for up and down The Strip.
One of the most anticipated projects since 2005 has been the Fontainebleau Las Vegas development that is finally expected to open in late 2023 on the North Strip. Also on the North Strip, real estate developer Siegel Group purchased 10 acres with plans to build a hotel/casino, retail and residential condominiums on the site.
Late last year, MGM Resorts International (MGM) sold its Mirage on The Strip, along with its iconic volcano, to Hard Rock International, which will build a Guitar Hotel that's similar to its Fort Lauderdale, Fla. hotel/casino property.
NBA Houston Rockets billionaire owner Tilman Fertitta, who also owns the Golden Nugget casino in downtown Las Vegas, is reportedly planning to purchase prime property on The Strip for $200 million, located between Caesars Entertainment's (CZR) Planet Hollywood and the MGM Grand, to develop a new high-end casino project on 6 acres.
As for retail development on The Strip, next to Fertitta's proposed development site, Grindi Capital is planning a project on 9.5 acres. Las Vegas developer Brett Torino, who owns a three-story retail complex at the northeast corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Harmon, is building a four-story retail project at the southwest corner of Las Vegas and Harmon.
Professional sports have also had a major impact on development on The Strip. Beginning with the National Hockey League's Golden Knights' arrival at the T-Mobile Arena on The Strip in 2017, Las Vegas has become a prime destination for pro sports teams and events. The National Football League's Raiders arrived in 2020 at Allegiant Stadium not far from the strip.
The National Basketball Association began playing its summer league in Las Vegas in 2004 and the WNBA's Aces, owned by Raiders owner Mark Davis, came to Vegas in 2018 and plays at Michelob Ultra Arena at Mandalay Bay. Formula 1 announced it will bring its global racing series to the streets of Las Vegas in November 2023.
Now, the Oakland A's are seriously considering a move to the Las Vegas Strip with talks of building a stadium on property currently occupied by the Tropicana Las Vegas at Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue.
Another major development may soon be coming to the South Strip as real estate broker CBRE Group is reportedly marketing to sell Seattle businessman Wayne Perry's 26-acre site across from the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, which is the former site of the failed SkyVue observation wheel project, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Perry's Shotgun Creek Investments is seeking to sell the site for $182 million, or $7 million an acre, through CBRE's global gaming group, according to the report. Shotgun, which had been a lender on the Ferris wheel project that failed, purchased the property in 2020 in a bankruptcy sale. Perry said that there has not been any interest to restart the SkyVue project.
SkyVue's original developer Howard Bulloch of Compass Investments had planned to spend over $100 million to build a 500-foot-tall observation wheel, rollercoaster, retail and restaurant project on The Strip property in 2011. The first phase of construction, which includes two existing concrete poles on the site, was finished in 2012. The project was never finished because of financial problems.
Bulloch reportedly began marketing the property for sale in 2015 for $10 million an acre, or more than $385 million, but never finalized a deal.
