The Drew Las Vegas could be the very first new casino to be built on the Las Vegas strip since 2010, when the Cosmopolitan opened. In order to do this, the Drew Las Vegas will need to beat Resorts World, but it is entirely possible. The new hotel and casino will be built in the shell of the Fontainebleau, which was sold to the current owners in 2017.
The Drew Las Vegas could be the first Las Vegas strip casino to open since 2010. The Drew will be housed in the partially completed Fontainebleau building
The Drew Set to Open in 2020
The Drew is scheduled to open in 2020, around the same time as Resorts World. This will mean it opens 15 years after the Fontainebleau was conceived. The building has stood unfinished since 2009, remaining around 70% complete. Due to the 2008 recession, backers of the project bailed and the developer went bankrupt. The building sat unfinished and was bought by Carl Icahn for $150 million. Last year, he sold it to New Valley LLC for $600 million.
The Fontainebleau was a massive project, which would have cost $2.9 billion to complete. The building would have been 730 feet tall, making it one of the tallest in Las Vegas. The new developers will have to do some remodelling on the current building, but they have said that the original building was so well conceived that, even after nine years, it will be easy for them to imprint their own design on the property.
The Drew will have 4000 Hotel Rooms
When completed, the Drew will be home to the strip’s first JW Marriott Hotel, with 4000 rooms. There will also be 500 000 square feet of convention space, as well as numerous entertainment facilities, nightclubs, shopping areas, and plenty of restaurants around the property.
New Valley LLC hasn’t said how much they would need to spend to complete the project, but $2 billion had been spent to get the building to where it is today. However, with the completion of the project scheduled to take another two years, we can’t imagine it will be cheap.
Still, it’s great to see Las Vegas continues to grow and two new strip casinos opening in the near future.
