Contractors for the Drew Las Vegas, which suspended construction three months ago due to the coronavirus, say they’re owed more than $36 million, and they want to be paid.
The claims have been piling up since Drew owner Steven Witkoff halted construction at the North Strip resort in March. That’s when the pandemic forced the shutdown of great swaths of the U.S. economy, including Nevada’s casinos.
At the time, the New York-based property developer was, by his own account, closing in on a roughly $2 billion construction loan to complete the 67-story, 3,800-room casino hotel, which has stood unfinished since its original incarnation as the $4 billion Fontainebleau collapsed into the maw of the Great Recession.
Corporate raider Carl Icahn acquired the property out of bankruptcy in 2010 for $150 million with the aim of reselling it. At the time, the property was said to be 70 percent complete.
The largest claim comes from the lead construction team of AECOM Hunt and Penta Building Group, which have filed a lien against the project for $18 million worth of unpaid work, according to a story last week in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Architects Bergman Walls & Associates, based in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson, have filed the second-biggest claim, nearly $12.5 million. Several other contractors, including demolition, scaffolding and architectural companies, also say they haven’t been paid.
Witkoff said he still plans to complete the resort, which he and Miami-based real estate firm New Valley purchased from Icahn in 2017 for $600 million and renamed in memory of Witkoff’s son Andrew, who died of a drug overdose.
“This is an unprecedented time, and unfortunately one that affects all hotels, casinos and construction projects globally,” his company said in a statement cited by the Review-Journal. “We remain committed to the project and are actively working with our partners and lenders. We are confident that we will be successful in completing the Drew Las Vegas.”
