Development plans have been proceeding on the vacant lot across the Las Vegas Strip from the Sahara, site of the original El Rancho Vegas, which burned to the ground in 1960.
In 2000, Hilton bought all but 26 acres of the parcel and announced a $450 million Hilton Grand Vacations timeshare project. The first of four towers, a $128 million 33-story 295-unit high-rise, opened in January 2004; a second tower, $126 million and 431 units, is scheduled for completion in the summer of 2006. Whether or not Hilton builds the third and fourth timeshare towers on the property remains to be seen, but they do control the southern half of the lot -- except for a three-acre parcel closest to Circus Circus, where Sky Las Vegas, a 45-story 409-unit luxury condo high-rise, is currently rising at a floor every four days and is on schedule to open in 2007.
As for the northern half, this 26-acre parcel is owned by the Estate of William Bennett. Bennett was the longtime president of Circus Circus before being forced out by shareholders in the late 1990s. He then bought the Sahara, and the vacant El Rancho Vegas property across the Strip, from Paul Lowden. He sold off the piece to Hilton, but kept the rest of it. Since Bennett’s death, the lot has remained in his estate.
It’s long been rumored that the Sahara is for sale. A few prospective buyers have come and gone; one expressed an interest in purchasing the 17-acre Sahara and the 26-acre lot across from it, then developing both in the same project. But nothing official has ever been announced and the privately held Sahara plays its cards close to the vest.
As for the north Strip, it’s far from taboo. It might look that way at the moment, with the Westward Ho dark and fenced, the old El Rancho property (formerly the Thunderbird) also fenced-in dirt, and the El Morocco and Algiers motels shuttered. But the Ho closed to make way for a new development that’s expected to be announced by summer of next year. The Stardust sits on an extremely valuable 63-acre parcel; Boyd Gaming is exploring options for redeveloping the entire site. The New Frontier could be razed as early as the first few months of next year to be replaced by a $1.6 billion 3,500-room megaresort; Trump Tower is going up on vacant New Frontier property.
Turnberry Associates plans to build a $1.5 billion 4,000-room Fontainebleau Resort on the old El Rancho (Thunderbird) site. And the two-tower Allure condo project is rising a half-block west of the Strip on Sahara.
