Question of the Day - 19 May 2022

Ah, the “Harmon Strip” — a developer’s chimera that has lingered for almost 30 years now.

For most of that time, it was conventional wisdom, amplified by the business pages of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, that eastward expansion of gambling and hotels was literally just around the corner. Wishful thinking would be more like it. Why? We can think of at least four reasons.

First, location, location, location. Most Las Vegas visitors like to be on the Strip and aren’t inclined to venture much either to the east or west, unless it’s to the Palms (the exception that proves the rule). Even casinos that are relatively close to the Strip, but not right on it, like the now-casino-less Westin Casuarina and the defunct Lucky Dragon, struggled mightily to draw players. The north-south inclination of the Vegas visitor and this habitual traffic pattern have proven impossible, so far, to break.

Second, lack of demand. Contrary to popular belief, the Strip is not fully built up. Recently, Tilman Fertitta was reported to be close to a deal for six acres of land, including Strip frontage and low-rise real estate, on the corner of the Strip and Harmon Avenue. Prior to that, the Siegel Group snapped up 10 acres across from Resorts World. A parcel south of Fertitta’s is even bigger that has gone begging and as we saw in a recent QoD, the site of the old El Rancho Vegas has remained mostly vacant for decades.  Also, two huge parcels — the Tropicana and the former Plaza/Alon site across from Wynncore — are in play for a major-league baseball stadium.

So there’s really not much of a need to build off the Strip right now and probably won't be for years to come.

Third, Think of the hotel projects along that corridor that have come and (mostly) gone. Two of them — W and Las Ramblas — were announced for Harmon Avenue, but didn’t get much further than some renderings. 

Fourth, it’s a long walk. Even in fair weather, it’s a hike to get from Virgin (the erstwhile Hard Rock) to the Strip. And in doing it, one gets a keen appreciation for how deep those Strip-fronted resorts reach. You really can’t start building anything until you get past Koval Lane and maybe, unless the Las Vegas Monorail is demolished, even farther.

All in all, it’s simply more convenient to graze up and down the Strip and until that changes, we don’t see anything of significance being built out to the east. Heck, only locals casinos like Tuscany Suites and Silver Sevens flourish on Flamingo Road, and tourist-targeted Virgin, on Harmon, is reliably reported to be having problems.

Almost anything is possible in Las Vegas, but that “almost” doesn’t include reinventing the Strip on an east-west axis.