Under new ownership, Palms Casino Resort is putting $50 million into a refresh of its original tower, opened in 2001. All 428 hotel rooms will be redone, as will the central bar area. The casino floor is being modified to squeeze in an extra 250 slot machines (and you thought it was crowded before!) and sports-bar/restaurant Heraea will fill the gap left by the closure of Garduño’s.
Caesars Palace is converting one of its innumerable towers into a boutique hotel, to carry the brand of restaurateur Nobu (which counts Robert DeNiro among its investors). Nearly 200 rooms and suites will be rethemed, at a cost of $30 million. It sounds a bit like sticking Imperial Palace into the middle of the Roman Forum but architectural firm Rockwell Group has a good reputation and we’ll get to see the result early next year. Caesars Palace has also banished a considerable number of ground-floor retail outlets, most of which sold high-priced schlock, probably to replace them with other high-end retailers.
Across Flamingo Road, MGM is putting $40 million into a retrofit of Bellagio’s Spa Tower, to bring its 928 rooms and suites into conformity with what present-day customers expect. (The Spa Tower opened in 2004.) MGM is investing considerably more money per room into the Spa Tower ($43,000 apiece) than it did in last year’s $70 million upgrade of the original three-wing hotel ($27,000 per room). Why? In part because three entirely new "executive hospitality suites" will be added. Since 2,500-square-foot home-theater arenas ("for intimate gatherings") and pool tables will be de rigteur for these suites, that’ll cost a pretty penny. And they should be ready just in time for New Year’s Eve, when demand peaks.
On floors #35-39 of Mandalay Bay, the Four Seasons hotel-within-a-hotel should be putting the finishing touches on a redo of its 86 suites and 338 rooms. A Dec. 17 completion date is promised – again, just in time for New Year’s. $30 million might seem a lot for five floors of hotel rooms but Four Seasons regularly commands the highest rates in town, so it can afford it.
Downtown is seeing several new pieces of construction, as Mayor Carolyn Goodman repositions urban Vegas away from its gambling-centric orientation. Across from the federal courthouse, a 10-story, $30 million Federal Justice Tower is being erected on a quarter-acre of land. (That’s a mighty small footprint.) Poverty-level Las Vegans will be able to avail themselves of a $13 million new Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada (800 S. 8th Street). The Legal Aid Center has been helping Nevadans for 53 years, so it’s probably overdue for new digs.
Zappos.com CEO and perceived downtown savior Tony Hsieh is putting $20 million into what’s described as a "mixed-use shipping-container park" at the intersection of Fremont and Seventh streets. That locale sounds like a place to park shipping containers but Hsieh promises a courtyard, a sculpture of a praying mantis, plus stores, bars and restaurants. It is expected to open by early next summer.
Out in the ‘burbs, hospital mega-operator HCA is ploughing $60 million into a new tower and emergency-room expansion at MountainView Hospital. Cobalt Cheyenne Data Center (price tag $45 million) crams 5.5 billion megawatts of power into 34,000 square feet, way out on West Cheyenne Avenue. Five hundred data cabinets will be packed into it when it’s done, later this month.
Lastly, against all odds, there’s still some life in the condo market. Down past South Point Hotel & Casino, seven-tower Grandview Resort (you know, the clutch of buildings that looks like low-income public housing) is raising an eighth high rise, to be ready for occupancy next May. Grandview hopes to eventually expand to 12 towers, for a grand total of 2,200 timeshare units. When in Vegas, dream big.
Special thanks to Tony Illia for supplying LVA with myriad facts and figures regarding a surprisingly lively construction market.
