Plan for Caesars tower moves ahead

By Liz Benston (contact)

Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2003 | 11:07 a.m.

Park Place Entertainment Corp. has submitted plans with Clark County to build a 1,000-room hotel tower and a 175,000-square-foot building for retail, restaurants and convention space at its Caesars Palace resort in Las Vegas.

The application reveals the first details of the project since Park Place officials said last month that they intend to resurrect plans to build a fifth hotel tower at the resort. Park Place had put a similar room tower addition on hold after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The company has yet to make any formal announcement about the project, including its estimated cost and timetable.

Park Place expects to make an announcement about the tower and convention center "in the not too distant future," spokesman Robert Stewart said Monday. He declined to elaborate on the announcements.

During the company's second-quarter earnings call last month, company executives referenced both the tower and an area for conventions and meetings.

The tower and the low-rise building would be connected to existing plaza areas to the east and pool areas to the west, according to plans that face approval Thursday by the Clark County Planning Commission.

The tower would have direct access from Flamingo Road. A porte cochere also is planned at the Flamingo Road entrance with driveways matching those of the Bellagio resort, plans show.

The buildings will feature arches, columns and statuary details to match the property's Roman theme. The company already has demolished buildings and other structures to accommodate the tower.

A parking study conducted for the resort's Forum Shops mall expansion found that the resort offers enough parking for the proposed projects, according to the proposal. More than 7,800 parking spaces are available at the resort for all uses, more than the roughly 6,800 spaces required by the county, it says.

Nevada Power, which controls land easements near the resort along Flamingo Road, is in the process of relinquishing those easements, the application says.

The tower plans replace those for an 864-room tower that was approved in February 2001. The tower must be approved under a new county zoning code that was changed since the previous tower was allowed, Park Place land use attorney Greg Borgel said.

The height of the project, at 365 feet, isn't an issue because the property has a use permit on file with the county to extend the tower above the typical 100-foot maximum allowed without a use permit, Borgel said.

Separately, Park Place is building a new entrance at the southeast corner of the resort, at the corner of Flamingo Road and Las Vegas Boulevard, that will be closer and more accessible from the sidewalk and replace its longer driveway entrance on the Strip. Also planned is a Roman-theme plaza with restaurant and retail outlets that will sit atop a two-story, underground parking garage built to accommodate visitors to the Celine Dion show at the Colosseum theater.

The company said last month it expects to rename itself Caesars Entertainment Inc. next year to better capitalize on the name recognition of its flagship resort brand.