MGM Resorts International President Bill Hornbuckle announced the closing of the sale of the 13-acre Village, including most of the site of the 2017 Route 91 Harvest Festival in front of Mandalay Bay, where the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history occurred October 1, 2017 when 58 people were gunned down.
The sale does not include the two acres MGM previously donated to Clark County, designated for a permanent October 1 memorial honoring the victims of the shooting.
“We know the importance this location holds to so many and have always put tremendous thought into every consideration involving the site,” Hornbuckle said in an email message to MGM employees. “This is no exception.”
Three Affiliated Tribes is a sovereign nation composed of the Arikara, Hidatsa and Mandan Nation tribes, also known as MHA Nation. It is based on the Fort Berthold Reservation in western North Dakota, known for shale oil production that has generated nearly $1.7 billion from drilling on reservation land over the past decade and a half.
The tribes also operate the 4 Bears Casino & Lodge on Fort Berthold Reservation land. The MGM Las Vegas purchase opens the possibility of a new casino development on the Strip, but no details or future development plans were included in the announcement of the sale.
“This is a sound investment for the MHA Nation,” said John Fredericks III, an attorney representing the tribes, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “There are no immediate specific plans for development but the MHA Nation will be exploring its development opportunities in the near term.”
If they build a casino on the site, the MHA Nation would be the fourth tribal entity operating casinos in Las Vegas, joining Palms owner San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, owners of Hard Rock Las Vegas, and the Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut, which operates the casino at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas.
The property involved in the Village sale and the donation to Clark County has been dormant since the night of the massacre. Formerly announced plans to utilize the site for parking for events at Allegiant Stadium along with plans for a community center never materialized.
“The Three Affiliated Tribes have demonstrated that they care about our community, its future and, of course, its past,” Hornbuckle wrote in the employee email. “I’d like to thank them for their commitment to the community and wish them the best moving forward.”
