We originally ran the answer to this question on Monday, April 22; or rather, we thought we were running the answer to this question, but in light of some email feedback received from a couple of readers, we realized that in addition to the defunct Asian-casino proposals we alluded to in that answer, there was also a far more recent project, which is what the original questioner was obviously asking about, and which may, according to an informed local blog, may still have legs.
For those who missed the original answer, here's a quick recap: Having admittedly completely forgotten, momentarily, about the project that we're about to discuss, we previously explained that an alternate proposal for what's now the Palazzo involved a design concept, from the firm that's been hired to design Genting Malaysia's new Resorts World Las Vegas resort-casino, for the equally imaginatively titled Asia Resort and Casino -- a concept that Sheldon Adelson rejected in favor of what stands today as Venetian's more logical neighbor.
Prior to this, in the early '90s, ITT Sheraton planned to convert the space occupied by the Desert Inn's parking lot into a Balinese-themed resort called Desert Kingdom, but that project never got off the drawing board and the site was later bought by Steve Wynn, who imploded DI and built his eponymous casino its place.
Fast forward to this time last year and the word on the street, courtesy of an article in the R-J, was that a local developer had earmarked a parcel of land just west of the Strip on Sahara Avenue, for a 10-story, 201-room hotel-casino called the Lucky Dragon, designed to cater primarily to the Asian market. We confess to the whole story having subsequently slipped our collective mind here, which explains why we made no reference to this when the original QoD ran.
Although we'd forgotten about the Lucky Dragon -- about which we learned little at the time and of which heard no further mention in the intervening months -- before the economy tanked we were aware of at least one other Asian casino in the mind's-eye of a local entrepreneur, who was reportedly buying up chunks of Chinatown with the vision of building a gaming parlor of some sort. He even approached Anthony Curtis about purchasing LVA's office building, and the rest of the parcel it sits on, but that was a few years back and no deal was made, so we remain in our home behind the Rio and Chinatown remains casino-less.
Interestingly, in the course of researching today's revised answer, we came across a 2008 article in Las Vegas Weekly by openly gay columnist and author Steve Friess, who broke the story about how the same developer behind Lucky Dragon, Andrew Fonfa, apparently once had a very different vision for the parcel of land behind Allure, which he's owned for a long time and part of which he sold to the developers who built that condo tower (with plans to build another, one until the bottom dropped well and truly out of that market.
According to Freiss' 2008 article, Fonfa, whose sister happens to be a lesbian, was planning to really break some ground by constructing Las Vegas' first openly gay hotel-casino. The siblings were aiming high, literally, their vision being for a 45-story, 1,000-unit property with a proposed $1.2 billion price tag, which was to be named The Q and managed by the Wyndham hotel chain.
That's the one-and-only reference we could find for that project and the 2.6-acre lot behind Allure has remained vacant to this day, although Fonfa reportedly added to it with the purchase of an additional 0.2 acres at the cost of almost $300,000, according to county records, indicating that he was still actively pursuing a vision.
While the Las Vegas Planning Commission apparently was amenable to some of the rezoning requests that would be necessary to realize the project, when the proposal for the site-redevelopment plan for the Lucky Dragon was introduced at a Jan. 10, 2012, Commission meeting, the staff recommendation was that the submitted plan -- which included a 446-space parking garage -- be denied.
What happened at the meeting to turn things around, we confess we have not had the time to ascertain, but surprisingly the plan passed this first hurdle with six votes in favor and zero against.
The Las Vegas Planning Commission approved the project on Jan. 10. This was then followed by a second green light, on Feb. 15, when the Las Vegas City Council also gave a collective thumbs-up to the project. At this second meeting, the developers were asked where they'd go from here, and reportedly replied that their next move was to obtain approval from the Building Board of architectural plans, etc., which if granted would unlock the final financial approvals for the project, which was apparently being largely funded by Chinese investors (hence, the Lucky Dragon theme). All being well, ground-breaking was expected to occur within a year.
While for many would-be casino owners and operators, the licensing process can be the major stumbling block, with Gaming regulators digging deep into every corner of a potential licensees business, financial, and personal history looking for anything that might render you undesirable. The background check is at your expense and can run to multiple millions of dollars, with approval by no means guaranteed. For Fonfa, however, this potential stumbling block poses no fear, since he had already won clearance from the Nevada Gaming Authority when he and partners took over the Indian Springs Casino in Tonopah, back in 2009. The Lucky Dragon site also lies within the city's gaming district and already has commercial zoning, so that shouldn't be an issue, either. Even the HOA for Allure confirms that the condo owners are in general support of the project.
However, we've heard nothing further of any developments since the last blog entry from VegasChatter, who's been following the project's progress thanks to an informed reader, and has also posted the only rendering of the Lucky Dragon that we've seen. Presumably, either the project hit a snag at the Building-Board stage and has been stalled by design issues, or else there's still insufficient financing secured to bring it to fruition, since all other major hurdles seem to have been cleared. Now that it's back on our radar, we'll be sure to keep an ear out for updates on the fate of the Lucky Dragon and will pass on word of any developments via "Today's News."
