Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

London theme planned for LV resort

A London-themed casino resort with replicas of Big Ben and the Tower Bridge would be constructed on the Las Vegas Strip under plans proposed by the company that owns the old El Rancho site.

The 44-story resort is planned by Turnberry Associates, developer of a complex of four luxury condominium towers just east of the site.

According to plans filed with the Clark County Comprehensive Planning Department, Turnberry wants to develop a 2,047-room hotel 535 feet tall with a 90,000-square-foot casino. Plans filed with the county do not indicate how many slot machines or table games are anticipated.

The resort would be centered on replicas of Big Ben, the clock tower adjacent to Great Britain's Parliament, and the majestic Tower Bridge, the graceful twin-tower bridge spanning the Thames River. Plans indicate the Big Ben replica would be larger than the 320-foot London landmark.

The property's porte cochere would be located off the Strip, adjacent to the parking lot of the Wet 'n Wild water theme park just to the north.

Turnberry officials could not be reached for comment on other specifics on the resort or the project's financing.

The Turnberry project is just one of three new casino proposals that have surfaced in recent days.

A second proposal on the south end of Las Vegas Boulevard, which also has preliminary plans on file with Clark County, is much smaller in scale.

A group of California developers plan a 600-room, four-story development at Las Vegas Boulevard South and Arby Avenue, across the street from the Belz Factory Outlet World shopping mall.

The Asian-themed resort, tentatively named the Dynasty Forbidden City hotel-casino, would incorporate a 1,522-car U-shaped parking structure, designed to resemble the Great Wall of China, wrapped around part of the building.

One unusual feature of the property is an indoor water feature, to be developed as a Chinese pool and spa. The resort also will have a 200-seat Chinese restaurant and a 200-seat buffet, five bars and lounges as well as a conference area.

The 33,000-square-foot casino would have 1,260 slot machines and 38 table games, say plans filed with the county.

Both proposals may face development challenges.

Though Turnberry is considered a power in the condominium development business, it does not have experience in gaming. That, combined with the north Strip location of the proposed London hotel-casino, may create challenges for the company, observers say.

"Clearly their location is inferior to the New World guys (at the south end of the Strip) and Steve Wynn (owner of the Desert Inn)," said gaming analyst Andrew Zarnett of Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown. "They are clearly strongly suited to developing real estate, but they don't have any operating experience. They've have to hire that in front of raising financing, because investors take great comfort in management in addition to location and percentage of equity (Turnberry is willing to invest)."

The New World developers, who control land on the Strip across from Mandalay Bay, also have floated the idea of a London-themed resort.

High-yield money is available for such gaming ventures, under the right conditions, Zarnett said.

"The market right now for high-yield for better quality gaming issuers ... is very strong," Zarnett said. "They need to hire a competent management team if they expect to get financing in the bank or high-yield markets."

David Atwell, a Strip hotel-casino broker, noted that many north Strip properties have been "languishing," and agreed that finding the right gaming partner, together with proper marketing, would be crucial for a Turnberry project.

Success, he said, "will be based on the strength of who's behind them," Atwell said.

But the Dynasty project's location could be favorable for development, Atwell said, noting that developers have been active in the area in recent months.

"I can't see a big megaproject out there, but I don't see any reason why a small property wouldn't work," Atwell said. "There's no reason it shouldn't grow out there."

But Zarnett noted that building on the Strip isn't cheap.

"To be competitive on the Las Vegas Strip today, you've got to invest somewhere in the vicinity of a billion dollars," Zarnett said. "With $50 million in equity plus $50 (million in additional equity investments), it would be virtually impossible to get a bank or high-yield investor to consider it (financing a billion-dollar project)."

A third hotel-casino even farther south than the Dynasty Forbidden City project also is on the drawing board.

GreenPark Cos. and Zenith Development Corp., Orange County, Calif., today announced a joint venture partnership to build a resort on 185 acres at Las Vegas Boulevard South and between Silverado Ranch Parkway and Cactus Avenue, about three miles south of Belz.

Zenith and GreenPark, which specializes in turning environmentally impaired land into productive use, formed South Las Vegas LLC to master-plan a property that would include hotels, casinos, commercial and residential uses.

Portions of the property were used as a gravel pit operation with stockpiled gravel, cobbles, concrete, asphalt, street piping and roadbase material. The company expects to import fill to stabilize the property, which is located just west of Southern Highlands, a community master-planned for 7,200 homes in a three-year development plan.

Larry Faigin, president of GreenPark, said the partnership is raising $200 million to finance the project and Warburg Pincus Ventures, a New York venture capital firm, has committed $20 million to the project.

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