The company recently announced that it was spending $575 million to acquire a series of parcels at the far north end of The Strip that includes the vacant plot of land across from The Sahara and the land that was supposedly going to be the site of a proposed Maxim hotel and casino. The land adjoins the acreage that is home to their Circus-Circus property and gives them about 100 acres total to play with for future development.

If you’re trying to envision where this is, just north of Circus-Circus is a small Travelodge motel – that is not included in this land deal, but just past that is a gas station that will go bye-bye and then all the land behind and to the north of the Sky condominium tower and the Hilton time-shares up to Sahara Avenue.

So what do they plan on doing with all that land? Build another massive complex of hotels and casinos eventually, of course.

It’s way too early for anyone to be getting specific but considering the fact that CityCenter, the aforementioned $7.4 billion project underway between Monte Carlo and Bellagio, is on 66 acres, the 100 acres of dirt they have here could see something even bigger and more expensive. Expect at least one new large hotel-casino plus a series of smaller boutique hotels, residential developments, and more.

The MGM Mirage folks did say that whatever the development wound up being it would include a major refurbishment of the aging Circus-Circus property that would probably involve them getting rid of the low-rise motel buildings out back and the RV park.

The major difference between this project and CityCenter is that they will seek partners to help develop the land instead of paying for the whole thing themselves.

There is no schedule for when this development will begin but a company spokesperson said it was possible that you could see construction there before CityCenter is done in 2009.

What this means, if all goes as intended, is that the next decade will shine brightly for the northern end of The Strip, now mostly dotted with aging dinosaurs like The Riviera, The Frontier, and Circus-Circus.

In addition to whatever MGM Mirage is planning to do, there are several major projects in the works in that neighborhood including Encore, the new sister hotel to Wynn Las Vegas due to open in 2008 or 2009; Echelon Place, the $4 billion complex of more than 5,000 hotel rooms and a casino that will replace the recently imploded Stardust; the Trump International Towers, the first of which should open next year; a major overhaul of The Sahara by its new owners, probably starting soon and complete by 2009 at the latest; and Fontainebleau, a $2.8 billion, nearly 4,000 room hotel and casino that has been planned for awhile now but recently got some new heavy hitting investors and may break ground later this year.

return to the top

Question: I used to really like going Downtown but stopped a few years back because things had gotten kind of seedy. Is there any good reason for me to go back?

Answer: Downtown Las Vegas has been suffering for years and the hits keep on coming.

One of the biggest hotels in the area, The Lady Luck, closed in 2006 in anticipation of a major refurbishment and expansion that, so far, hasn’t happened. It still remains a shuttered shell, although the people in charge of the project swear that within the next couple of months everything will start up again. They even managed to convince the city extend an exclusive negotiating window that would allow them to purchase land just north of the hotel for possible expansion.

Meanwhile the other high-profile failure, Neonopolis, got yet another setback recently. The mostly vacant shopping mall/entertainment complex that anchors The Fremont Street Experience, has been on the block for awhile now looking for a new corporate owner to infuse some much needed love into the place. Hopes had been high for one major shopping center company but they recently said they weren’t interested and now things are back to square one. As of this writing the only tenants in the building are Jillian’s restaurant and bowling alley, a movie theater, and a jewelry store.

But there are some bright spots that may make a trip to Downtown worth your while.

The recent renovation of The Golden Nugget has turned that property into one that can compete on many levels with the grand palaces on The Strip. El Cortez and The Four Queens have also gotten top to bottom overhauls that definitely moves their properties up a few rungs on the hotel food chain.

Plus there are several new bars and entertainment facilities open downtown on Fremont Street both under the canopy and just to the east. Work is underway on transforming the street between the Experience and The El Cortez from a grimy and sometimes scary few blocks of tacky shops into a bustling honky-tonk district and there are several already existing bars and restaurants in the area worth visiting including the fantastic Triple George Grill and the raucously fun Hogs & Heifers Saloon.

Plus, you can stay Downtown for a fraction of what you’d pay on The Strip so you can always justify the visit that way!

return to the top