Ferris wheel talks still under way

Friday, Feb. 7, 2003 | 11:10 a.m.

The partners for the 3,250-room Strip resort approved Wednesday by the Clark County Commission aren't really partners yet -- there's no signed lease agreement between them.

David Lowden, real estate projects director for Sahara Las Vegas Corp., a subsidiary of Archon Corp., Las Vegas, said Thursday his company has signed a letter of intent with Voyager Entertainment International Inc., Las Vegas, to provide the 27.5-acre Wet 'n Wild water park site south of the Sahara hotel-casino for a $650 million resort.

"We are under a letter of intent (with Voyager) that dates back to last May," Lowden said. "But to go forward requires them to sign a lease agreement with us, and various things still have to be agreed upon."

Lowden did not elaborate on the unresolved issues.

Richard Hannigan, president of Voyager Entertainment, said he plans to announce within two weeks additional plans for the development, including a groundbreaking date and construction timetable.

He said there were unresolved legal concerns preventing him from disclosing a timetable on the day the County Commission unanimously approved the proposal, a hotel and timeshare development anchored by a 12-story Ferris wheel and man-made lake.

Publicly traded Voyager Entertainment has disclosed plans for the $100 million Ferris wheel component, a 560-foot-high ride with 30 individual cars. The Ferris wheel would be the visible centerpiece of the development. Also included would be a 904,000-square-foot resort hotel comprised of a marina, a 50-story tower with 2,000 rooms, an 11-story tower with 470 rooms, a 27-story tower with 200 rooms and 20 stationary yachts with 78 suites on the man-made lake.

The plan also calls for a casino floor, bars, showrooms, nightclubs, restaurants and a nine-level parking garage.

Renderings of the resort convey a sense of sails on ships with a look similar to the famed Sidney Opera House on the harbor of Sidney, Australia.

Voyager Entertainment has attempted to locate its Ferris wheel attraction in Las Vegas since that project was first announced in late 2000. At one time, the company said it was considering building the Ferris wheel on property near the Aladdin hotel-casino. But now, the project appears to be headed further north on the Strip.

"We'd love to see it built and we think it would be a real asset to the city, particularly to the north Strip," Lowden said. "But no documents have been signed and no action has been taken that would trigger termination of the existing land lease with Wet 'n Wild Inc."

Wet 'n Wild is the popular water theme park owned by Palace Entertainment, Irvine, Calif., at the site.

The general manager of the park, which opened in 1977 and currently has 20 full-time employees and between 300 and 350 seasonal workers, said he's planning to open the park for the 2003 season on April 12.