If you haven’t noticed the big blue-ish building sitting across from Circus Circus in Las Vegas then I would have to say you need an eye exam or better optics. It’s been sitting there for about 20 years. However, in recent news, the original developers have returned with a 2.2 billion dollar bag to finish it by the end of 2023.
So, how is the progress on the Fontainebleau Hotel casino coming along you say? Here are some recent photos of the inside progress and you get to view them courtesy of Vital Vegas website. Yes, I hawked them.
You can’t make this stuff up. This is a miracle that Fontainebleau is even getting finished. This means that Las Vegas is turning the heads of investors and the mix of professional sports.
However, Fontainebleau in Las Vegas is right next to the new convention center expansion and is poised to bring potential traffic in and out of the new investment that is sure to bring any convention goer to Las Vegas.
According to Vital Vegas, the original developer, Jeffrey Soffer and his Fontainebleau Development, is at the helm of the project again.
In between the disastrous first attempt at building Fontainebleau (it was 75% complete when it was abandoned), it was owned previously by Carl Icahn, then Steve Witkoff (who intended to rename the resort to The Drew).
In 2021, it was sold to Koch Real Estate Investments for $350 million.
Here’s a brief breakdown of the miracle on Las Vegas Blvd.
Construction of Fontainebleau Las Vegas began in Feb. 2007 on the site of the former El Rancho and Algiers.
Construction was halted in 2009 when the project went belly up due to the recession. Painfully, Fontainebleau was a mere 25% away from completion.
Wildly wealthy Carl Icahn purchased the bankrupt Fontainebleau project in January 2010 for $150 million.
In Oct. 2010, Icahn sold off much of the Fontainebleau furnishings. Some of which went to the Grand Hotel in downtown Las Vegas.
We can expect the project to be finished by the end of 2023. However, the big heads at Fontainebleau are looking at F1 in November to have something open by then. That will be another miracle in the making. We’ll keep you posted on the progress of this property as the plot thickens.
