It's amazing how what was "out" one year is "in" the next. The Resorts World and Lucky Dragon casinos are both betting that Chinese visitors to Las Vegas want to stay someplace that reminds them of home. However, at the same time that these projects are trying to revive the themed-resort craze of the 1990s, which petered out with the Aladdin (now Planet Hollywood) in 2000, MGM Resorts International is de-theming Monte Carlo in favor of a new yet-to-be-disclosed style, already having (on the inside) de-themed Luxor and Excalibur as much as anyone can de-theme a pyramid or a castle (which they still very much are on the outside). Similarly, Caesars Entertainment, the other veteran Strip colossus, has finally expunged all traces of pagoda styling from the former Imperial Palace, now the utterly un-themed LINQ.
Late last month, however, online publication Space.com announced that an unnamed consortium was aiming to build a Mars-themed resort "near" the Las Vegas Strip, on land between I-15 and Las Vegas Boulevard. Called Mars World, it would be designed by space architect John Spencer, whose credits include preliminary design work on Star Trek: The Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton (now Westgate Las Vegas) and architectural work on the International Space Station.
The project has its weird aspects (an animatronic petting zoo, for one) and certainly doesn't lack for ambition. "Visitors will be treated to the music, costumes and culture of a simulated Mars colony. They will take simulated 'Marwalks' in one-fourth Earth gravity," writes Space.com contributor Elizabeth Howell, "ride a tram around a crater in which the city is built, and even sleep overnight in rough habitats, if they wish."
A design rendering shows a multi-story parking garage, an intermediate "entry structure," and then a giant dome that encloses "Mars World City." Spencer reckons that, with Las Vegas drawing over 40 million a year, he can get seven million of them to visit Mars World. Admission would be free, with Spencer planning to monetize the project through merchandise sales.
But … there are the questions of real estate and finance. Spencer has $500,000 on tap and is seeking another $17 million. Even if that is raised, it would be a drop in the bucket of the $200 million land-purchase budget, let alone the $2 billion project cost, which will "will take several years," even though Spencer plans to have the attraction up and running by 2021. (To put that in context, even if Steve Wynn begins construction of $1.6 billion Wynn Paradise Park later this year, he doesn't envision opening it before 2020.)
The Mars World team, headed by CEO Lewis Stanton, is looking at two tracts of land, one 66 acres in size, the other 85 acres. We were able to find one such parcel of land (66.15 acres), at Warm Springs Road and Las Vegas Boulevard – slightly south of the 215 Beltway, but couldn't locate anything larger that’s currently available, not even the former Station Casinos site at Cactus Avenue, just below South Point. Bottom line: Mars World is going to be well "off the Strip."
At least the people behind Mars World seem serious about what they're doing. We don't know what to make of an April 12 posting on local blog VegasBright.com that a Mayan-themed resort is coming, the project of a "Mr. L," supposedly several years in the making. (Perhaps longer … Resorts World designer Steelman Partners was commissioned to design a Mayan-themed casino back in the late 20th century.) The project’s location was described in vague terms as "near the North Strip" and renderings show a sprawling series of pyramid-like structures (shades of Luxor, only bigger). Phase One would be a 38-story hotel with a 76,500-square-foot casino, run by "a very well-known gaming operator." If demand outruns supply, there will eventually be a third phase comprising three pyramid-shaped hotel towers. Investment firms in London and the United Arab Emirates were mooted as the backers.
Although a rendering showed the resort sitting atop the old Stardust site, that was strictly for purposes of demonstrating the scale of the project, not an indication of where it was to be located. The only north-Strip land that hasn't been spoken for at this time is the 21-acre Wet 'n Wild site, which seems much too small for what is envisioned (although the Mayan resort has supposedly been downsized from its initial concept). Frankly, unless MGM has decided to tear down Circus Circus or "Mr. L" is going to buy and demolish Fontainebleau, we can't imagine where, on or near the north Strip, this project is to be located, unless the 33-acre Las Vegas Festival Grounds site (also owned by MGM) is up for grabs, which is possible. The mysterious "Mr. L" will supposedly reveal all sometime next week…
We consulted a couple of our sources in the business community, one of whom observed that the announcements of impending Las Vegas resort purchases are a dime a dozen. The other remarked that land acquisitions are never announced ahead of time but only when the deal is done. Our first source added that even resort projects as seemingly solid as Alon (James Packer's casino on the old New Frontier site) and Resorts World are currently having trouble getting financed – never mind the sketchy sounding Mayan/Mars projects. The only casino making money on the north Strip, they added, is Circus Circus, because it's free and clear.
In short, we'll believe these projects are the real deal when shovels go into the ground and not a minute sooner (and even that’s no guarantee of completion, as the examples of Fontainebleau, Echelon/Resorts World, and now Lucky Dragon, are there to remind us). As for themed resorts, the major players on the Strip continue to move away from that concept, and Resorts World and Lucky Dragon appear to be outliers, not indications of a wider trend.
