On October 6, Clark County, Nevada commissioners voted 6-1 in support of a $500 million casino-hotel on five acres near McCarran International Airport. The 20-story, 527-room project, called Dream Las Vegas, will be located on the southern edge of Las Vegas Boulevard.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, developers David Daneshforooz and Bill Shopoff hope to break ground by the third quarter of 2022 and open in 2024.
Commissioner Ross Miller cast the sole “no” vote, questioning a decision to “allow for casino-hotels directly on top of our airport.”
Shopoff said Dream will be a departure from the typical mega-casino, and will “find its following” among visitors looking for a different experience.
The investors first announced their plans in February 2020, just before Covid-19 arrived on U.S. shores, and was put on the back burner at that time. But the virus wasn’t the only obstacle in its path. As outlined in county documents, the proposal raised “safety and security concerns” about McCarran operations, and project plans were sent to agencies including the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the Secret Service.
The Transportation Security Administration issued an assessment stating the project is near an area of the airport “used for high-level individuals, special operations and military aircraft parking,” and the resort “would increase risk to both the aircraft and the passengers due to active shooters and the ability to throw things over the fence intended to cause harm” to people and planes, county documents show.
The TSA also said the hotel’s proposed service road would make its border with the airport “more susceptible to Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device attacks delivered by vendor or garbage truck,” and that open areas planned for the third and ninth floors “provide a direct line of sight for laser flashing and long gun attacks” against aircraft and the airport, county documents say.
Airlines including Southwest, Delta, American and United all raised concerns about the project, citing such issues as illegal drone activity, lasers, and lighting and billboards that “could potentially be a source of flash blindness.”
As a result, a number of design changes were implemented, including a “nine-foot tall, double-reinforced security wall” with guard rails and wrought-iron fencing at the perimeter of McCarran.
A security checkpoint will allow only authorized vehicles onto the service road that rings the property, and grates or spikes will be installed on the other side of the building to prevent drivers from avoiding that checked entry, according to Celeste.
More importantly, he told commissioners, sightlines to McCarran have been “dramatically reduced.”
The parking garage will be enclosed; the hotel’s pool deck will have a “decorative” 10-foot security wall; all of the guest-room balconies were scrapped; and each room will have a “glass-break detector system” that will alert security if anyone tampers with the windows, Celeste said.
Rosemary Vassiliadis, Clark County director of aviation, told commissioners that officials “appreciate the commitment” from the developers to adhere to a range of preconditions, which she said “should mitigate the severity of the security and safety concerns” but not eliminate them.
“Pilots like open, vacant space,” she said, “so with that, they will not support a project like this.”
Vassiliadis also said that the Federal Aviation Administration did not find “any obstruction impact” to airport operations stemming from Dream’s proposed height, currently 234 feet.
