What’s happening with all the new Las Vegas projects? Where is the high speed rail, the new baseball stadium, and Tilman Fertitta’s resort on the Strip? Many Sin City projects fail, so we’re updating you on these projects and more!
Over the years, we’ve shared stories about new Las Vegas projects, resorts, and attractions, and many of them, like the Durango Casino and Bottled Blonde eventually opened for business. Many of them, but not all. It is not uncommon for Sin City developments to fail. So this week in gambling, we are taking a look at some of those projects we’re still waiting for and checking on their status, beginning with that new baseball stadium.
Tropicana was demolished to make way for a major league baseball venue, but skeptics doubt it will ever be completed, and there are reasons to doubt the price continues to rise and it’s now over $2 billion… so it’s not clear where that money will come from. Still they just held a groundbreaking ceremony last month and the project is technically moving forward, so the A’s baseball stadium is still alive… for now.
And that leads us to the new hotel and casino that we mentioned on a show from April: The Rolling Stone Resort. With whispers that Downtown Grand is in financial trouble, and stories circulating that they’re having issues paying vendors, rumors that Rolling Stone was interested in buying the resort and rebranding it built a lot of excitement. However, after the owners completed their due diligence process, they decided to walk away from this deal. Make of that what you will. But the bottom line is the Rolling Stone resort is dead.
But hey, what about other Las Vegas projects? Like that high speed rail service between Las Vegas and Los Angeles? Brightline West has plans for 200 mile per hour train service across the desert, bringing visitors from California to Sun City in just two hours. Construction began in 2024, but there have not been a lot of updates since.Now we’re happy to report that this $12 billion project is still right on track, so to speak, and the company says they will be up and running before the 2028 Olympic Games in LA. So, high speed rail to Las Vegas: Still alive!
Okay, so many of you are probably wondering about that new resort and casino from Tillman Fertitta. After he purchased and cleared six acres of prime strip real estate right across from the Aria, his plans were to build a 2,400 room, 43 story resort. But hey, things change quickly in Vegas. Since purchasing that land, Mr. Fertitta has bought up a lot of stock in wind resorts over the past few years, so much so that his company is now the majority shareholder, and that creates a little problem called a conflict of interest. With this in mind, Fertitta now says he has no plans to continue with that project, at least not as long as he maintains his ownership interest in win. So his strip resort is dead.
And that brings us to our final two Las Vegas projects, Dream Las Vegas and the Harlem Nights Resort. First, the owners of the proposed Dream Las Vegas near the airport, asked for and received a two year extension on their building permits to raise more funds. And while things may look bleak, remember that Fontainebleau set empty for 14 years before finally opening. Then the owners of the proposed Harlem Nights Resort planned for the west side of Las Vegas also had a hearing, but that one did not go as well, as the City Council rejected their plans for a 22 story hotel and casino by a 6-1 vote. So the Harlem Nights Resort looks dead, while Dream Las Vegas is still alive… even if it is on life support.
