On March 22, the Clark County Commission unanimously approved plans submitted by Hard Rock International (HRI) to develop a 660-foot, 600-room guitar-shaped hotel tower on the site of the Mirage, which will displace the longstanding volcano attraction that was a favorite among locals and tourists.
Jennifer Lazovich, a Las Vegas-based land-use attorney representing HRI, told the commission that the new structure will go up “right where the existing volcano” currently sits, and confirmed that HRI will also renovate the rest of the property to match its brand.
The structure, once completed, will actually resemble two guitars sitting back-to-back, with glass facades and strings that are “brightly lit,” according to a previous letter penned by Lazovich to the county.
Mirage President Joe Lupo released a statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal thanking the commissioners for their approval, adding that the company is excited to “move forward with this iconic property.”
HRI finalized its $1 billion-plus acquisition of the operations of the Mirage from fellow operator MGM Resorts International late last year, about a year after the deal was first announced.
Gaming real estate investment trust VICI Properties still owns the property’s real estate assets, and HRI has signed a lease with VICI that will reportedly start at a rate of $90 million per year.
Guitar-shaped hotels are a staple of the Hard Rock brand, as the company recently finished an extremely similar, 450-foot tower at its Seminole Hard Rock property in Florida that opened in 2019.
The Mirage, which will soon be no more, was first opened by casino mogul Steve Wynn back in 1989. Largely seen as the first “mega-resort” to debut on the Strip, the property was a central attraction for decades thanks to its amenities such as the performance duo Siegfried & Roy and the aforementioned volcano.
