Related story
For the first time in decades, no plans are in the works for construction of a Strip resort. That doesn’t mean development is dead. Resort owners and entrepreneurs are still investing money on Las Vegas Boulevard, just in smaller amounts and for different projects.
Instead of building billion-dollar hotels, they’re investing in cheaper entertainment ventures. But the goal remains the same: Keep the Strip fresh and interesting, and keep visitors coming.
Here are some projects either underway or on drawing boards:
-
Project Linq
First envisioned in 2006 but shelved because of the bad economy, Caesars Entertainment’s $500 million dining, retail and entertainment plaza is becoming a reality. Project Linq will feature a 325,000-square-foot outdoor corridor of bars, restaurants and shops between the Flamingo and O’Sheas and will be anchored by a 550-foot Ferris wheel.
Clark County commissioners gave Caesars the green light this month to break ground on the project. It is expected to take 18 months to complete and employ 3,000 construction workers and 1,500 permanent workers.
-
Skyvue Las Vegas Super Wheel
Developers of the 500-foot Ferris wheel and amusement park across from Mandalay Bay broke ground on the project in May. They began clearing an 11-acre site at Las Vegas Boulevard and Mandalay Bay Road that will house the giant wheel plus 140,000 square feet of shops, restaurants and entertainment venues.
“Anyone who flies in or out of McCarran Airport or drives in or out of Southern California will see our wheel,” developer Howard Bulloch said.
The first phase is scheduled to be completed in 2013. A similar project was proposed for the site a decade ago but stalled.
-
Parabounce Vegas
Think of it as 3-D bumper cars with balloons instead of vehicles. Twenty people, each bobbing in his or her own helium balloon, float hundreds of feet in the air. Controls let riders navigate around a 100,000-square-foot “bubble dome.”
That’s the idea behind Parabounce, a new aerial adventure creator Stephen Meadows is trying to bring to Las Vegas. He patented the technology in 1996 and has demonstrated it at the 2002 Winter Olympics and on the White House lawn.
Meadows hopes to land his bubble dome next to the Skyvue Super Wheel adjacent to Mandalay Bay. “We’re in negotiations for the lease,” he said.
If approved, the complex would also include a new ParaBike attraction featuring flying bicycles, as well as arcades.
-
Margaritaville casino
It will be a Parrot Head’s paradise. Caesars Entertainment is transforming a portion of the Flamingo into a minicasino dedicated to Margaritaville, Jimmy Buffett’s national restaurant and bar chain. The $10 million venue will feature table games and slots, be awash in Buffett music and include a central “Five O’Clock Somewhere” bar that serves up Buffett’s signature margaritas. The casino replaces shuttered Steakhouse 46 and will connect to the existing Margaritaville restaurant and bar at Flamingo Road and Las Vegas Boulevard.
Buffett owns more than 20 restaurants and has recently expanded his business model to include a hotel and casinos. The Margaritaville Hotel opened in Pensacola Beach, Fla. in June 2010, and construction is under way on a 68,000-square-foot, $48 million Margaritaville Casino and Restaurant in Biloxi, Miss. Harrah’s Entertainment had partnered with Buffett in 2007 to build a $700 million beach-front casino resort in Biloxi that was to open in 2010, but the recession forced Harrah’s to stop construction in 2008.
-
Strip-front Starbucks
Owner Phil Ruffin, in his quest to transform Treasure Island into a midlevel resort, is adding a Strip-front Starbucks and margarita bar to the hotel-casino he bought from MGM Resorts International in 2009. Both take over the space formerly occupied by Treasure Island’s entrance and driveway.
Construction also is underway on a Señor Frog’s Mexican restaurant. The outdoor-indoor eatery will sit on the hotel’s lagoon and replace the Christian Audigier nightclub and Khotan Asian restaurant. Ruffin hopes the restaurant will draw some of the 9,000 to 10,000 people who watch the resort’s pirate show each night into the casino.
-
New resort facades
The facades of the Imperial Palace and O’Sheas are getting a face-lift. Caesars Entertainment plans to “reskin” the fronts of the two aging resorts as part of its $500 million “Project Linq” renovation.
The Asian-themed Imperial Palace opened in 1979 at the site of the former Flamingo Capri. O’Sheas opened in 1989. And while Harrah’s Chairman Gary Loveman said in 2005 that both properties were likely in store for “very substantial modifications or complete tear-downs and rebuilds,” owners subsequently invested millions of dollars into refurbishing both.
-
Updated rooms
The 13-year-old Bellagio, which in its infancy was the most expensive hotel ever built, is getting a new look. MGM Resorts International is spending $70 million to update the rooms in its main tower with three new looks. Each will get a new color scheme -- either indigo and silver, green tea and plum or amber and butterscotch -- as well as new furniture and accessories. Upgrades on the 2,568 rooms are expected to be complete in December.
Earlier this year, Wynn Resorts spent $99 million renovating Wynn Las Vegas’ 2,700 hotel rooms and suites. The resort was 5 years old at the time. Designers stripped the rooms of their dark wall coverings and carpeting and replaced them with neutral tones. They also resurfaced furniture pieces and bathroom surfaces.
