New owner revamping Alexis

Monday, Nov. 15, 2004 | 10:58 a.m.

The new owner of the non-gaming Alexis Park Hotel has acquired 4.7 acres adjacent to the property and is on track to develop a 28-story hotel with 1,000 rooms and a 70,000-square-foot casino.

The $300 million project planned by Richard Alter, an unsuccessful bidder for the Aladdin and the Las Vegas Hilton, is expected to be completed by April 2007.

Alter said he is on pace to secure a restricted gaming license to install a limited number of slot machines in the existing property next year and a nonrestricted license for the larger casino by the time it opens.

Alter said the 28-story building would not fall within a height-restricted zone near McCarran International Airport and that his plans have been reviewed by the Federal Aviation Administration. In addition to the hotel-casino, under design by Joel Bergman, the project would include a 1,500-space parking structure.

Alter, whose Financial Capital Investment Co. owns the Los Angeles Omni Hotel, says he has no regrets about not getting those high-profile hotel-casinos and is focused on moving ahead on a master plan on the Harmon Avenue development, which has been renamed the Alexis Villas & Resort.

"We may not have been the winning bidders for the Aladdin or the Las Vegas Hilton, but we certainly have done more to our property in six months than those big guys have done in one or two years," said Alter, who was in Las Vegas over the weekend for a first-hand look at the project.

Alter acquired the 500-suite Alexis and the adjacent 206-room Americana Apartments in May for $70 million. Thursday, he closed on 4.7 acres of vacant property behind the Americana Apartments sold by Las Vegas developer Barry Fieldman for $10 million.

The acquisition gives Alter a squared-off 28-acre parcel. Fieldman plans to develop an additional 21 acres adjacent to Alter's holdings.

Alter has turned his attention now to making improvements at the Alexis and to securing gaming licenses. He already has submitted an application for a restricted license that would give him a maximum of 15 slot machines, hoping to be able to install machines by January or February. He then will attempt to secure a non-restricted license to increase the number of machines he would be allowed to install, hoping to win approval from regulators by the first quarter of 2007.

Alter was disappointed when he was outbid by a partnership headed by Planet Hollywood co-founder Robert Earl for the Aladdin and by Colony Capital Corp. for the Las Vegas Hilton, but the Alexis acquisition has been a silver lining for Alter, who operates hotel properties in Southern California.

"We were at a disadvantage on the other ones because there were public processes and sealed bids," Alter said. "But with the Alexis, it was all us in the deal and we didn't have to have any partners. It was something we could do today and provide immediate value added. It always turns out for the best."

Despite construction at the property, Alter said the Alexis -- located across the street and just down the block from the Hard Rock Hotel -- had an occupancy rate of 84 percent in October and is running at about 87 percent this month.

"It's an amazing result considering the magnitude of the construction disruption that is going on now," Alter said.

Among the improvements at the Alexis are the opening of the 375 Supper Club, a nightclub named for the street address number of the property, a new glass wall entry and a new lobby with a crystal glass fireplace and silver ceiling.

Cabanas and lanai rooms have been built at the hotel's pool area and top-of-the-line beds, fireplaces and flat-screen televisions are being installed in the suites. Alter said there would also be a Sony-vision sign installed at Harmon Avenue in January.

Next year, Alter said a 50,000-square-foot building is planned on the current valet parking site to house a new restaurant and a new nightclub across the street from the Hard Rock's entry. Alter said he has a good relationship with the Hard Rock and that some day, the two may decide to build a pedestrian overpass linking the two entrances.