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LAS VEGAS (AP) — A developer’s drive to open a Las Vegas Strip resort echoing Miami Beach’s iconic Fontainebleau reached reality Wednesday with the opening of a 67-story hotel-casino tower that had long remained unfinished. The reason became famous. More than a decade.
Jeffrey Soffer, who started the project, lost it and reclaimed it to complete it, said, “Bringing Fontainebleau Las Vegas to life has been an extraordinary journey.” Opening a resort of this size and scope is once in a lifetime. Experience.”
The Fontainebleau is the tallest, newest and bluest hotel in the South nevadaThe glitzy resort corridor of. With a cost of $3.7 billion, it is second only to the 66-floor cost of $4.3 billion. Resorts World to open in June 2021 A short walk from Las Vegas Boulevard.
The name of the 3,644-room Fontainebleau is reminiscent of the Miami Beach icon among destination resorts, which Soffer’s family acquired in 2005. But the project in the Mojave Desert has its own story of starts, stops and changes of ownership since work began in 2007.
Soffer, the Miami-based president of Fontainebleau Development, lost money during the Great Recession and walked away from the project in 2009 with about 70% of the building completed.
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Several new owners stepped in, including renowned financier Carl Icahn and New York Developer Steven Witkoff. The latter announced plans to redesign in 2018 Rename Resort The DrewBut progress stalled again during the pandemic.
Meanwhile, sitting empty, the massive shell of a building with an unfinished facade facing the street was occasionally used by area firefighters for high-altitude rescue training. Last July, as work progressed toward opening, a smoky roof fire The alarm was raised but little damage was done.
He described the completion as “the fulfillment of a long-held dream and a testament to the spirit of our brand, which has endured for seven decades.”
The resort that awaits guests and gamblers just before midnight Wednesday includes a bowtie theme that is an homage to the standard neckwear of architect Morris Lapidus when the Miami resort opened in 1954.
“Art, architecture and design are key components of our Fontainebleau culture and guest experience,” Brett Mufson, president of Fontainebleau Development, said in a statement ahead of the opening.
Fontainebleau Las Vegas President Mark Tricano told state gambling regulators last month that the resort will employ more than 7,000 workers. The property has 1,300 slot machines, 128 gambling tables and more than 36 bars and restaurants – some featuring Miami-native chefs. Hotel room rates for the inauguration started at about $300 per night, officials said.
The structure is the tallest building in Nevada and the second tallest in Las Vegas, behind the nearby Strat Tower observation deck at 1,149 feet (350 m).
The Fontainebleau was built on the site of the El Rancho Hotel, which was built in 1948 and erupted in 2000 after it was purchased by Soffer and condominium developer Turnberry Associates. Plans to build a British-themed hotel-casino hotel with replicas of the Tower of London and Buckingham Palace were shelved after the September 11 terrorist attacks.
The Fontainebleau is adjacent to the newest section of the Las Vegas Convention Center, a $1 billion expansion that opened in January 2021, and offers views down the Strip. brightly lit area Concert and entertainment venue which opened in September.
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