Not only is no new construction on the horizon, but there’s nothing positive in sight even for existing construction that’s stalled.
Case in point: At Boyd’s Echelon Place project, all the cranes have been removed and workers have finished up prepping the site for a complete shutdown, which could last for at least three years.
In addition, the 80%-completed 3,000-room Fontainebleau remains idle. The 400-unit uber-luxury condo the St. Regis at Venetian is a steel-girder eyesore at center Strip. The new 23-story 665-room Octavius Tower at Caesars is an empty shell. Desert Blue, a Wyndham timeshare practically right next door to our offices, is a 10-story skeleton. And construction has been halted on some low- and high-rise condos around town.
Beyond that, more than a baker’s dozen of drawing-board projects have either been postponed or cancelled: the 18-acre south Strip Elvis-themed hotel-casino; Crown Las Vegas, the tower-casino planned for the old Wet ‘n’ Wild property; the $5 billion Elad Plaza on the Frontier site; Viva, Station Casino’s flagship proposed for the Wild Wild West property; Crowne Plaza, a 400-room non-casino hotel planned for Spring Mountain; also on Spring Mountain, the 2,200-room Asian-themed Dragon City; a 1,000-room tower planned for the Sahara; the 1,200-room Boyd Gaming Park Highlands casino in North Las Vegas; a Penthouse casino; the Lady Luck reopen; Harrah’s arena project; the second Trump tower; the Moulin Rouge; the Grand Central hotel at World Market Center; the Sands and Wynn convention centers; a Marriott across from the Convention Center; and the proposed extension of the monorail to downtown and the airport.
Other than the Towers at Planet Hollywood, which open next month, and CityCenter, which opens in stages over the next few months, the only ongoing construction on the Strip is at Cosmopolitan, which is scheduled to debut next year around this time.
One project that seems to be moving forward is the remodel of the Tropicana. Another project recently announced that hasn’t been cancelled yet, but doesn’t involve new construction, is a remodel of the St. Tropez.
Announced construction projects that we haven’t heard have been postponed or cancelled, but that we’re not betting on, include Union Park, a 47-story 1,000-room hotel-casino proposed for a 6.4-acre corner of the downtown redevelopment, right behind the Plaza; Harrah’s Project Link entertainment district between Flamingo and O’Sheas at center Strip; and a small casino with a big sign on the old Holy Cow! site at Sahara and the Strip.
