VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: Pitt has designs on property in Vegas

Thursday, June 10, 2004 | 11:03 a.m.

VegasBeat appears Sunday through Friday in the Las Vegas Sun. Timothy McDarrah can be reached at tim@lasvegassun.com or at (702) 259-4096.

Those recurring rumors about a Brad Pitt -designed hotel in Las Vegas are at a fever pitch.

Today those rumors include a specific location, a mighty financial backer and another celebrity partner.

The "Troy" star is a budding architect and designer who supervised the recent renovations of the Hollywood home he shares with his wife, Jennifer Aniston.

His interest in the field has been well reported, and his name has been linked to several hotel projects in Las Vegas, Los Angeles and elsewhere.

Now we hear that Pitt and "Ocean's 11" and "Ocean's 12" pal George Clooney will team with Rande Gerber to create a unique property with Station Casinos on the site of the Wild Wild West casino on Tropicana Avenue, just west of the Strip.

Pitt and (especially) Clooney have been frequent guests at Green Valley Ranch Station Casino, which is also the home to Gerber's high-profile Whiskey Bar.

At the Station Casinos' shareholders meeting in May at the Green Valley property, Chairman Frank Fertitta III said the company's goal is to break ground on a project on the Wild Wild West site in the first half of 2006, with completion expected in 2008.

Station has an option to buy Wild Wild West's 19-acre plot for $36 million -- an option it plans to exercise, according to Fertitta. The company also owns 30 adjacent acres.

"We want to build something very creative, an icon for Las Vegas," Fertitta said at the time.

Station Casinos spokeswoman Leslie Pittman told us Wednesday it was premature to comment on the Wild Wild West site.

"We're entirely focused on the Red Rock project right now," she said, referring to the resort Station is planning to build at the intersection of Charleston Boulevard and the Las Vegas Beltway.

More Station

In other Station Casinos news, it has purchased the restaurant BullShrimp at the Green Valley property from celebrity chef and owner Gustav Mauler.

Hotel execs are talking about turning the fairly high-end eatery into a 24-hour restaurant, which it currently does not feature, although there is a Fatburger walk-up counter open around the clock.

Home again

Siegfried Fischbacher, who had put his Spanish Trail home up for sale, is moving back to the residence and it has been taken off the market, according to both a real estate agent who had the listing and a friend of Siegfried & Roy.

Siegfried had been living with his injured performing partner, Roy Horn, at Jungle Palace since Horn returned to Las Vegas to convalesce at Christmastime.

On April 19, KLAS Channel 8 was the first to report that the home at 11 Cascade Creek Lane, Fischbacher's primary residence since 1996, was being offered for sale for $2.9 million.

The friend said that Horn might be headed back to Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, where he had been treated.

The friend also echoed remarks made on national television last month by Penn Jillette that Horn is having difficulty seeing out of his left eye.

"Last Thursday (June 3) was the nine-month anniversary of the tiger attack, which doctors say is a key point in a recovery timeline," the friend told us. "Apparently X-amount of recovery was supposed to have taken place, and it hasn't. But that is not to say he is not doing phenomenally well."

David Kirvin, a spokesman for the duo, said he was unable to comment. He said our query "involves two areas we never discuss: their private lives and the specifics of Roy's care and treatment."

Meanwhile a "Dateline" crew was with the duo at an undisclosed Las Vegas location Wednesday filming B-roll for the big Maria Shriver interview with Horn to promote NBC's animated "Father of the Pride" TV series.

A New ... Design

Add Caesars Palace headliner Celine Dion to the list of celebrity clothing designers.

Dion tells us that she has inked a deal with Art Impressions, a leading lifestyle brand development company, to launch the Celine Dion Collection of children's clothes in fall 2005.

It will feature products with "distinctively imaginative and classic styling," according to the official announcement.

"A child's sense of curiosity, security and playfulness will be captured in delicate designs evocative of classic children's collections, tailored to appeal to a broad range of consumers," it said.

VegasBits

Classy: Southern Wine & Spirits of Nevada bosses Larry Ruvo and Michael Severino hosted a private fete Tuesday night at their expansive South Jones Boulevard offices for local James Beard honorees Bradley Odgen and Luciano Pellegrini ...

Host: The producers of "The Vegas Show" are talking to veteran funnyman, Stardust rotating headliner and longtime Carol Burnett sidekick Tim Conway about an extended guest-host stint on "The Vegas Show" ...

Late: "Girls Gone Wild" creator Joe Francis was at the new Saturday afterhours party at The Rio's VooDoo Lounge, hosted by Alex Cordova and Clique Entertainment. Clique is pitching it as a place to go after leaving the Bellagio club Light, and before going to Rehab, the Sunday afternoon pool party at the Hard Rock Hotel ...

Party: The club OPM (Forum Shops at Caesars) will be hosting a CineVegas party Wednesday night featuring Dennis Hopper and David Lynch ...

Biz: We hear that VEGAS and Ocean Drive magazine writer Jacquelynn D. Powers is going into a professional partnership with her boyfriend, Mike Pasqualini, in a lounge opening in South Beach this August called Onda ...

Sale: The Nevada Ballet Theatre is having its "Rags to Riches" rummage sale on Saturday. Festivities start with a preview party Friday night. Everything from used, uh, make that "previously owned" furs, to pearls to a Yamaha baby grand piano, designer wear and so on can be bought for a fraction of the original prices. It takes place at the NBT facilities at 1651 Inner Circle Drive in Summerlin. For more informatin, call (702) 243-2623.

From Sun wires

Singer to run: The former lead singer of the Australian rock band Midnight Oil announced today that he will run for parliament with the opposition Labour Party -- and party leaders said he could even become a government minister someday.

Peter Garrett, a committed environmental activist with a distinctive bald pate, had long used Midnight Oil as a forum for his political views. The band broke up in 2002 after 25 years.

Spears injured: Pop princess Britney Spears, 22, injured her knee during a video shoot and was hospitalized in New York for arthroscopic surgery, her record label said Wednesday.