Hard Rock Leads Hotel, Trade Expansion in Vegas
Las Vegas’ trade-show scene continues to expand as a number of big real estate projects gets underway, bringing more choice hotel and convention space to the city over the next couple of years.
The most recent announcement comes from the new owners of the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, who are planning a new tower as well as convention and conference space. But that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Other projects include a new W hotel concept, a 1.5 million-square-foot lifestyle center and a 4,000- room resort hotel by MGM/Mirage.
The New York–based Morgans Hotel Group Co., which acquired the Hard Rock last summer for $770 million, recently announced an expansion project calling for 950 additional guest rooms, 60,000 square feet of meeting and convention space, and 30,000 square feet of retail space. Morgans also owns the Delano hotel in Miami, the Mondrian in Los Angeles and the Hudson in New York.
Plans are to complete the project within two years. Construction is expected to start this fall, said president Ed Scheetz during a recent press conference.
The expansion calls for adding 550 rooms in a new tower to be constructed on the existing property site. Another VIP tower will be built housing 400 suites on eight acres on land adjacent to the existing hotel.
The hotel’s pool, The Joint nightclub and restaurants will also be expanded.
“As each phase of this project is completed, we will be enhancing the Hard Rock’s well-established reputation as one of the most popular destinations in Las Vegas, and we are more excited than ever about its potential,” said Scheetz.
The city’s retail landscape is also evolving as Las Vegas developers Turnberry Associates and Centra Properties this November will open the Turnberry Town Square, a 1.5 million-square-foot lifestyle retail center just south of the Mandalay Bay hotel on the Las Vegas Strip.
Town Square will be constructed in a village-style, open-air setting. Retailers committing to leases include Michael Stars, Metro Park, Hollister, Lucky Brand, Puma, Abercrombie & Fitch, Banana Republic, BCBG, Chico’s, Guess, PacSun, Skechers and more.
In all, 150 stores and 15 restaurants will make up the development, which is considered Las Vegas’ first lifestyle center outside of casino developments.
“This is one of the largest retail developments of its kind under construction in the country and the first of its kind in Las Vegas,” said Joseph P. Tagliola, Turnberry’s president of retail.
Developer Jeff LaPour is planning a $50 million W Hotel concept called Aloft to be built on a five-acre site at Paradise and Flamingo roads. The boutique hotel will be geared for the fashion industry and similar industries that are full of young, upwardly mobile professionals. Rooms will feature flat-screen television sets and iPod docking stations. A Reebok-branded gym is also being planned. The hotel will be built up to 14 stories with 235 rooms. The opening date is tentatively set for the first half of 2009.
Finally, MGM/Mirage Resorts will add a 4,000-room hotel, two 400-room boutique hotels and 665,000 square feet of retail and entertainment space with its $7 billion CityCenter mixed-use development, considered the largest privately financed development in the country.
All of the new development reinforces Las Vegas as the prime convention locale for the apparel industry, noted Chris McCabe, vice president and general manager of Woodland Hills, Calif.–based MAGIC International, which operates the MAGIC Marketplace show twice a year in Las Vegas.
“Las Vegas is the best place to accommodate over 120,000 fashion-industry decision makers we host twice a year,” he said. “The city is known for not only the abundance and wide variety of great hotels but the close proximity of these hotels to the convention space, which is just one of the reasons why we chose Las Vegas. Another bonus is that nearly each year, there are new properties with worldclass restaurants, shopping and events, making this an exciting place for the fashion industry to do business.”
