Christopher DeVargas
A preview of the SLS Las Vegas resort that will be replacing the iconic Sahara, Tuesday May 1, 2012.
Associated Press
Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013 | 2:24 p.m.
The owners of the shuttered Sahara casino on an aging stretch of the Las Vegas Strip say they're breaking ground on a redevelopment project that will revitalize the resort.
Los Angeles-based SBE Entertainment announced Wednesday that it's beginning construction after securing the $400 million needed for the project.
The development company says it will reopen the iconic resort that once hosted the likes of Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley by fall of 2014. It will be renamed the SLS Las Vegas.
Owners say the resort will bring celebrity chefs, nightlife and 1,600 guestrooms and suites to the Strip's older and less glitzy north end, which includes the famed Stratosphere.
Managers of the 59-year-old Sahara closed the casino in May 2011 after saying it wasn't economically viable.
SLS Las Vegas Hotel & Casino SLS Las Vegas is expected to open in 2014 in the old Sahara resort, which closed in 2011 after 59 years of operation.
The high-end resort project was announced in January 2012 by Los Angeles-based hotelier Sam Nazarian. Nazarian heads SBE Entertainment, a hospitality and entertainment empire with real estate, restaurants, clubs and hotels nationwide.
SBE expects to spend upwards of $750 million on the project, envisioning it to be an all-encompassing, mixed-use property with more than 1,600 guest rooms and suites and a collection of SBE’s restaurant and nightlife brands.
"When it opens, SLS Las Vegas will provide an approachable experience that will feature The Bazaar by José Andrés, Katsuya by Starck, a reinvention of SBE’s original nightlife concept, Shelter, retail by Fred Segal and additional brands currently in development," according to the website.
2535 Las Vegas Blvd. South Las Vegas,
NV 89109
323-655-8000
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Construction jobs now and 2600 jobs when they open.
Glad this project is coming together for them.
Looks good, I like the palm rows. This place will also bring some life back to the monorail...
Comment removed by moderator. ALL CAPS
Looks like the old Sahara with brighter paint.
"An aging stretch of the Las Vegas Strip" ... Does anyone from the Associated Press actually visit Las Vegas, or do they phone in this B.S., like most everyone else who writes about us?
Looks nice, wonder if they'll attract the $1 blackjack crowd.
Ah James P. Reza. If only HE worked for the Associated Press! Oh my what a picture we would have of our fair town then!
I've missed the village idiot. I really have. Whenever a truth is to be spoken about Las Vegas one can rest assured that James P. Reza will be the first to stand up and cry nay!
So let me get this straight, Mr. R. Am I to presume that you don't think this IS an aging part of the Strip? Hm? Am I to assume that you yourself have been down to that luxurious stretch of promenade lately? Let me see, we have the Sahara, which is dead and gone and sitting like a hulking mountain of stucco and cheap carpeting. It broods across the street at an empty lot. To its north is another shuttered building, which has been for sale for nigh on ten years now. As you drift farther south you have the defunct Fountainbleau, which should be completed sometime between Armageddon and implosion of the sun. And then of course there's that delightful shopping arcade known as the Bonanza Gift Shop where one can buy such classy souvenirs as the plastic penis-nose spectacles.
I'd go on but I think I've made my point. That area is dumpy at best. The Associated Press was being rather polite, I should think, in simply calling it "aging". I would have thought a more accurate word would have been decomposing.
I truly do wonder when the James P. Rezas of Las Vegas will stop whining and crying about "outside" press reports and actually do something to clean up the colossal mess known as Las Vegas. But then again, I've come to realize that he and his ilk LIKE it the way it is. They just don't like anyone pointing out to them how crappy it really is.
A big thumbs up there, sporty!
Things are looking up for LV. Renovations underway at The Quad, Bill's, SLS and the Downtown Grand. Not to mention the overhaul of The D. Now if the resorts will only start rehiring those they pushed out the doors when things were bleaker and bring "customer service" back into the equation. One can only hope.
@sporty, Remember, when you say, "...the colossal mess known as Las Vegas," please keep in mind that part of the Strip isn't in City limits. And unfortunately, the world thinks of the whole city as just being 4 miles long - they forget there's a REAL bunch of people and businesses here. But pretty funny writing!
Regarding the SLS - PLEASE get rid of the stupid SHOE!!!
...the famed Stratosphere . . .
Yes, it once was. Today it's more like the drabosphere. Yes, they continue to add extreme adventures and lay new carpeting in the casino. But what about doing something to the outside? The legs of the tower have been that clay/putty off white forever. Why not something like electronic lights that shange the colors of the tower legs, much like they have done with the top pod. And that horrible marquee . . . Time for something new.
Where exactly do they sell industrial quantities of Turd Polish in Vegas these days??
Just kidding... should have let the place the way it was!! loved the Sahara!! part of its charm is that it was a little run down, and reasonably priced. Now they are just going to ruin it, and run out all the people who liked it for what it was. they wont get those customers back, and im afraid the "higher end" clientele aren't going to be staying in that area.
Yes, it is great news that so many projects are under way, with continued job openings to come. Hopefully, it will increase competition for quality employees and release the shackles that casinos have placed on their employees and start treating them better.
we have too many casinos already--it makes absolutely no sense to build any casino for a decade. There are not enough customers for the ones that are already open and building more just waters down the shallow pond even more. also this area is crime central....the naked city is 100 yards across the street and the area behind the hotel is drug infested for 20 years now. Bottom line people don't feel all that safe in this area and it is too far from the mass of casinos. The traffic at this intersection also is another issue--it is a mess 24 hours even without the casino. I have no idea how or why people keep getting money to build more and more casinos here.
@Pahrump-Mike -my thoughts exactly
Just one question: Can't anybody in this city come up with a name for a hotel anymore? We got the M, then the LVH, the D and now the SLS. Sounds like the lineup at a Cadillac dealership.
The over sized red slipper is a glamour come-0n and come-in for the oldest Sahara, the next newest Sahara and the corporation that is being remodeled into life today. This has the feel of Ms. Winthur of Vogue and her tremendous magazine that she has ushered into being. Not only is she a great editor but she has done so much for the world's less fortunate than those she editorilizes.
Good to see some simplicity to an old Lady.