Developers plan new south Strip casino resort

David Strow

Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2001 | 11:19 a.m.

A Las Vegas development company has announced plans for a major gaming development on the south end of the Strip -- and has overcome airport objections to the construction of a 40-story tower at the site.

New World LLC, a company controlled by Howard Bulloch and David Gaffin, announced its acquisition of a 77-acre land parcel on the east side of Las Vegas Boulevard, across the street from Mandalay Bay, in a news release issued over the weekend. The release referred to plans to build "hotel/casinos, a convention center and a fine arts facility" through a partnership called "World Port Resorts."

The company has scheduled a press conference for Thursday morning to discuss the project. Further details were not revealed.

Hilarie Grey, a spokeswoman for the Clark County Department of Aviation, said the developers filed plans to build four structures on the site, which is located next to McCarran International Airport. One planned building would tower 425 feet, roughly the same height as Mandalay Bay.

Such plans would have violated height restrictions on the site, which previously limited development to heights of less than 300 feet. But the Federal Aviation Authority lifted this height restriction earlier this year over the airport's objections, Grey said.

"If they (the FAA) say they're satisfied, then we'll abide by that decision, absolutely," Grey said.

Sources familiar with the project said this morning that the plans for the World Port Resorts project involve a building resembling a huge cruise ship.

"One design was 40 stories tall... similar to Mandalay Bay, a couple thousand rooms," one source said. "They've been working on it for three years, maybe four. One design was 40 stories tall, similar to Mandalay Bay, a couple of thousand rooms.

"You're looking at the making of a half-billion, billion-dollar project there. They've got to get major money involved there."

The source said he didn't know if funds had been lined up for such a development yet.