After years of stop-and-start construction woes, the Fontainebleau Las Vegas is one step closer to launching after the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) voted unanimously to recommend licensing approval November 1.
The matter will now proceed to the Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC) for final approval at its meeting November 16. If everything goes according to plan, the 3,700-room casino resort will host its grand opening December 13.
Jeffrey Soffer, owner of the resort and chairman of Miami-based Fontainebleau Development, first started construction on the project back in 2007. It was quickly derailed by financial issues, and Soffer eventually walked away from the project in 2009, when the building was about 70 percent complete.
The project then changed hands multiple times and was stalled again by the Covid-19 pandemic. Eventually, Soffer reacquired the property in 2021, with help from Koch Real Estate Investments. By the end of last year, the developers said they had raised the $2.2 billion needed to finish the resort.
“When we picked it up, everything we had done previously was the same,” Soffer said at the NGCB hearing, as reported by the Nevada Independent. “Nobody had ever touched it. We had to start over, we made some changes to the property. Everyone is going to be very happy with the product. It’s going to bring Las Vegas to another level.”
Both Soffer and Brett Mufson, CEO of Fontainebleau Development, were already found suitable for licensure by state regulators back in July.
According to Mark Tricano, who will serve as president of Fontainebleau Las Vegas, the property expects to hire some 7,100 total workers, and about 80 percent of that has been filled, according to the Independent. The property already signed neutrality agreements with local labor unions over the summer.
All told, the casino will feature 150,000 square feet of gaming space, with 1,300 slots, 128 tables and 36 food and beverage outlets. The property will also feature a high-limit area and a poolside gaming area.
As far as a sportsbook goes, the back-end technology, oddsmaking platform and risk management services will be provided by Red Rock Resorts, but the book itself will not fall under Red Rock’s STN Sports brand.
The property will also feature a 550,000-square-foot convention center, which officials hope to eventually connect to the nearby West Hall of Las Vegas Convention Center, which didn’t exist when the Fontainebleau first started construction.
