In early 2005, a joint venture was announced between the owners of Ellis Island and Diversified Real Estate Concepts Inc., a Chicago-based developer. Their project: Aqua Blue, a $600 million 825-unit luxury hotel-condo-casino slated to replace the Super 8 on the grounds of Ellis Island. The Chicago developer announced that Michael Jordan would have two restaurants on the property, MJ's Steak House and MJ's 23.sportcafe.
(They would've been the former NBA superstar's first eateries in Las Vegas; Jordan has had a highly successful eponymous sports bar and the 160 Blue steakhouse in Chicago, the Michael Jordan Steak House in New York City's Grand Central Station, and restaurants at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn., and Chapel Hill, North Carolina.)
Jordan was also supposed to open a 65,000-square-foot Athletic Center at Aqua Blue, which would have been the first of its kind anywhere.
Construction was scheduled to begin in the fall of 2005 and was expected to take 24 months. Sales of the condo units, which started at $399,000, began in a sales building on the property.
We were jazzed about Aqua Blue. In the February 2005 Las Vegas Advisor, Anthony Curtis wrote, "Of all the announcements during the past few years concerning all the new developments planned over the next few -- metaresorts, skyscraping hotel towers, luxury-condo high rises, timeshare complexes, condo-hotel combos, and office buildings … even Wynn Las Vegas -- the one that has me the most jazzed is Aqua Blue.
"First, it's a 'condo-hotel.' This is a new concept for Las Vegas, though it's been happening in Florida and the Midwest for a while. Buyers own the units outright, but can also put them into a pool for a certain number of nights during which the hotel company can rent them out to visitors. Sounds like a good deal all around. Time will tell, but for now it's something new and special that sets this high-rise project apart.
"Second, it's Michael Jordan. This affiliation cannot be underestimated ...
"Third and most importantly, it's Ellis Island. EI is one of my favorite casinos. The management there is customer-oriented and doesn’t mind giving something back via a great deal. The Ellis Island crew has done things right and now they’re getting paid off."
Well, it didn't happen. In August 2005, the plans were scrapped. Rising construction costs were blamed for canceling Aqua Blue, which was among a number of hotel and condominium projects that were announced around that time and never got off the ground.
The same developer, however, built Platinum, the 255-suite hotel-condo with two restaurants, a spa, and a 17-story-high rooftop terrace, located around the corner from Ellis Island on E. Flamingo, which opened in fall 2006.
