Question of the Day - 27 July 2024

We presume you're referring to the Saint Regis tower, unfinished since 2008. If so, we have some news for you. 

Movement is afoot to finish the aborted structure, which one of our bloggers likes to refer to as the “Stump Regis.”

The newish operators of the Venetian, Apollo Management, are certainly flush. They’re currently in the process of spending $1.2 billion to completely revamp the Venetian (and to a lesser extent younger sibling Palazzo), right down to its logo. That renovation doesn’t extend to what has been called the St. Regis tower, but it’s a harbinger of things to come.

To wit: In mid-June, the VitalVegas blog reported on “chatter” that construction would resume on the truncated tower. Initial confirmation came by way of another blogger, who heard it from a loose-lipped Venetian subcontractor. The latter told @JamesInLasVegas that the Venetian’s marquee had been taken down due to the fact it would “block the Strip view from the future rooms of the new tower.”

What’s more, the Venetian owns two construction cranes that it keeps on permanent standby. That’s highly unusual in a town where cranes are usually rented and penalties are imposed for leaving them unused for too long (a by-product of Carl Icahn’s long delay at Fontainebleau when he was owner).

The contractor told @JamesInLasVegas that a high-end hotel tower (not that existing Venetian rooms are cheap by any means) was slated for construction, starting in mid-2025. Two VitalVegas sources have pegged Tao Group as the eventual operator. Tao is a consultant to the Sphere and is already developing a hotel in Vegas’ rival city, Orlando.

In the meantime, Apollo has replaced much of the tattered wrap that concealed the unfinished tower’s scaffolding. Some think this means construction has been postponed, but we hope that it means Apollo wants to keep the place presentable while it finishes its Venetian refresh.

After all, with the Tropicana permanently out of the picture (and no replacement in sight) and the Mirage offline until 2027, there’s a market niche, which a new tower could help fill.