As I had previously reported here the Hooters hotel was going to be bought out & turned into a boutique hotel. Well, you can scratch those plans. According to the LVRJ.com, the prospective new owners missed a scheduled payment and Hooters terminated the deal. They said that they’s still consider some kind of similar deal if Hooters still wanted to.
Honestly it’s not a big surprise. With the way the economy is going now people have less money to spend on big projects and with no real way to see any solid returns on your investment there’s a lot of smaller projects that will suffer the same fate.
To be honest Hooters isn’t a bad place. It’s got a cool vibe to it, a nice pool, decent food, and hey, it’s got Hooters girls! It’s really about a 5 minute walk from the Tropicana and the MGM Grand so it’s really not out of the way. Plus, c’mon who doesn’t love chicken wings!
Time will tell what will happen there but for the time being feel free to enjoy Hooters!
Word came down this week that the Crown Las Vegas project was kaput. It was supposed to be built on the former Wet & wild land next to the Sahara at the north end of the strip. Citing a soft financial market, the owners scrapped the 5 billion dollar project and have put the land up for sale.
They had planned to have the tallest tower in the US, but the FAA said that their plans would have interfered with the flightpaths at McCarran airport. At first they wanted to build a tower that was 1888 feet! In comparison the Stratosphere tower is 1,149 feet high. They did redesign their tower to be 1,064 feet which was approved by the FAA.
The head of the company behind the project is James Packer, son of the late Australian billionare and Vegas gambling legend Kerry Packer, who in his time was one of the biggest whales that Las vegas has ever seen. He had won and lost literally millions over the years.
The company though is going full speed on it’s other project, the Fountanbleau, which is right next door. And yes it’s named after the famous Fountanbleau in Miami in case you were wondering!
There’s been countless mega projects here that have been proposed and weren’t ever started and this is just another. I’m sure it won’t be the last. As the strip gets more saturated there’s gonna less big projects in my opinion in the coming years. Between the CityCenter, Echelon Place, Encore, and the Fountainbleau that’s 4 huge projects currently underway and that’s a lot of rooms, restaurants, retail shops and entertainment coming up to open in the next 18-24 months. We’ll just have to see what kind of impact those projects will make and we’ll take it from there! Just as always, never a dull moment in Las Vegas!
The Trump Tower opened this week here in Las Vegas. It’s the Donald’s first venture into the Vegas valley. He’s been quite successful in Atlantic City and has wanted to be in Vegas for a long time.
Unlike his East Coast properties his tower here is only condos. There’s no casino on site. It’s a concept called “condotel” where you own the unit but rent it out when you’re not using it.
In typical Trump style it’s been designed as a luxury destination. The whole outer glass is a shiny gold and really gleams in the daytime sun. There’s a spa, pool and coming later a high end restaurant.
But here’s the rub. As some have pointed out (and I agree) there’s some down sides. Yes it’s beautiful place, but…
1. There’s no casino. It’s just rooms and the usual amenities. Which leads to…
2. It’s in kind of a bad location. Yes you can see it from the strip. But it’s not ON the strip. The closest casino (ironically belonging to Trump’s rival Steve Wynn) is about a half-mile away. All that’s really close is the Fashion Show Mall.
3. The rate is estimated to be $350 a night. That’s a LOT to stay at a place with no casino, no shows, and no restaurants. You can easily find a room on the Strip under $100 if you look around.
Time will tell if Trump’s place will work in our market. He does have plans and the financing for a second tower though.
My opinion? This is just his first venture here. He’s had success in Atlantic City and had long wanted to be in Vegas as well. Plus add in his rivalry with Steve Wynn & I’m sure we’ll see more of Donald Trump in the future.