Vital Vegas, a blog based in Las Vegas, reported last week that Wynn Reports bought the Alon site on the Strip. Located across the road from Wynn Las Vegas, Alon was planned as a billion-dollar-plus “boutique” high-end integrated resort. Imagined by James Packer, former Wynn Las Vegas president, Andrew Pascal, was hired to build the property. But when Packer failed to raise funding for the project after several years of trying, he folded his hand. Pascal pledged to carry on without Packer, but no progress was made.
The 34.6-acre site was the home of the former New Frontier, a property that endured labor strife throughout the 1990s, and was demolished 10 years ago. Owner Phil Ruffin planned a San Francisco-themed resort, but that was scuttled by 9/11 and the recession. Later, he pivoted to a “Montreux” theme, named after the Swiss town that hosts a famous jazz festival. Finally an Israeli company planned to purchase the site and construct a replica of New York’s Plaza hotel but those plans also went bust.
Wynn Resorts is planning “Paradise Park,” a themed water park/new hotel on the golf course behind Wynn Las Vegas and Encore. A purchase of the Alon site would give the company more room for expansion and cement its hold over that slice of the Las Vegas Strip. The area is getting more active with the start of construction on Genting’s Resorts World Las Vegas on the old Stardust site, and the purchase of the Fontainebleau hotel by a New York investment firm. Also the site of the former Riviera hotel will become the latest expansion of the Las Vegas Convention Center, giving the facility its first link to the Strip.
Packer’s asking price for the Alon land had been $400 million, but according to Vital Vegas it’s “highly unlikely” he got that amount.
