Marriott International has officially abandoned the long-suffering project involving the shuttered casino project that started as Fontainebleau Las Vegas.
Marriott spokeswoman Sara Conneighton confirmed last week in an interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal that Marriott “recently reached an amicable settlement with the hotel’s owner that has resulted in Marriott exiting the project.”
Marriott had planned to transform the shuttered project into the JW Marriott Las Vegas Blvd., with a projected opening date of October 2023. The project was purchased in February by Florida developer Jeffrey Soffer’s Fontainebleau Development company. In a statement to the Review-Journal, Fontainebleau Development said it “moves forward with the project in Las Vegas; we feel it is important to make clear that, upon opening, the hotel will be managed and operated by Fontainebleau Development,” noting the Marriott agreement had been made with the property’s previous owner.
“Having come full circle and taken ownership of the site in Las Vegas, we intend to fulfill our original vision and deliver the same extraordinary hospitality experience that our guests have come to expect from Fontainebleau Development,” the statement said.
Soffer, the project’s original developer, first unveiled plans for the project during the Las Vegas market’s halcyon days in 2005, in partnership with veteran casino executive Glenn Schaeffer. The project became one of the casualties of the Great Recession, and went bankrupt in 2009. Furniture carpeting, bathroom fixtures and other equipment intended for the project were sold to the Plaza in Downtown Las Vegas.
The unfinished project was acquired by billionaire Carl Icahn in 2010 for $150 million, and he sold it after the economy improved in 2017 to real estate firm New Valley for $600 million.
