In Business Las Vegas, May 25th, 2007
More upscale development is headed for the north end of the
Las Vegas
Strip after New Frontier
owner
Phil
Ruffin
agreed to sell 34.5 acres to an Israeli developer for a record $34 million per acre.
Elad Group, which operates
New York
's Plaza Hotel, agreed to buy the New Frontier site for
Las Vegas
version of the Plaza, due to open in 2011, would be built in its place.$1.2 billion. The 984-room hotel and casino is expected to be demolished next year and a
Analysts are applauding
Ruffin
, a
Wichita, Kan.
, businessman who bought the New Frontier for
Ruffin
acquired the property, it closed a chapter in one of the bitterest labor disputes in
Las Vegas
history between the Culinary Union and the former owners of the property, the
Elardi
family.$167 million in 1998. When
Ruffin
said the 1,000 hotel employees were notified of the sale last week and the property is expected to be closed within three months when the deal with Elad closes.
The Elad deal doesn't include seven acres on the west side of the property that includes a gold-glassed tower being built by
real estate entrepreneur
Donald
Trump
that will be topped out in a ceremony on May 25. A second tower is expected to be built next door to the 1,282-unit tower now under construction.
The Elad project is the newest plan to bring more upscale development to the north end of the Strip.
Already under construction in the neighborhood:
-
Las Vegas Sands' Palazzo, a 3,025-room tower being built adjacent to the Venetian for $1.6 billion, due to open later this year.
- Encore,
Steve
Wynn
's $2.1 billion, 2,054-room addition to Wynn Las Vegas, scheduled for a late 2008 opening.
Also on the drawing board:
- Fontainebleau, a 2,929-room property by Turnberry Associates, targeted to open in 2009. The $1.5 billion project is planned on land formerly occupied by the El Rancho.
- Echelon Place, a collection of hotels and retail property by Boyd Gaming on the former site of the Stardust. It has a $4.4 billion price tag and will have about 5,300 rooms due to open in 2010.
- A major upgrade has been promised for the Sahara by its new
owner, Hollywood entrepreneur
Sam
Nazarian
.
-
MGM Mirage has acquired the acreage west of the Sahara, but has yet to announce plans for the property, north of Circus Circus.
Elad, run by Israeli
Miki
Naftali
, bought the Plaza in
New York
, the setting of the Eloise children's books, for
New York
and is converting older buildings into residences.$675 million in 2004. It is converting the century-old hotel into condominiums. The company has built two apartment buildings in
The real-estate firm may also open Plaza properties in other "destination cities" including
Los Angeles
,
San Francisco
,
Washington
,
London
,
Paris
and
Tokyo
"in the near future,"
Naftali
said in the statement.
