Sources say Houston billionaire Tillman Fertitta is buying six acres of property on the Las Vegas Strip where he plans to build an upscale resort. [Image: Shutterstock.com]
Intention to develop a high-end resort
Landry’s Inc. owner and CEO Tillman Fertitta is buying six acres on the Las Vegas Strip to develop an upscale resort, sources quoted by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
buy the site for more than 200 million dollars
The Houston billionaire’s Sin City plans emerged on Tuesday, with sources suggesting he is buying the site for more than $200 million. Insiders say Fertitta — whose Landry portfolio includes the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casinos in Nevada and other states — is acquiring the six-acre property on the southeast corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Harmon Avenue .
A source expects Fertitta to complete the acquisition within months. This source like the others reports LVRJ, was granted anonymity to speak about a deal that “has not been finalized and that the buyer and seller have not announced publicly.”
Torino supports the plans
The site is next to the Planet Hollywood Resort and across from the CityCenter complex, home to the Aria. Fertitta already owns the Golden Nugget Las Vegas Hotel and Casino in downtown Vegas, so the purchase would extend its footprint into the heart of the gambling capital of the world.
Real estate journalist for LVRJ, Eli Segall, shared news of Fertitta’s real estate market move on Wednesday via Twitter:
According to Segall, Vegas real estate developer Brett Torino described a luxury Fertitta hotel as “fantastic” for this part of the Strip. He reportedly heard many people discussing the billionaire’s plans for a property at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard, Harmon Avenue.
“You have the ability to squeeze – I don’t know if that’s his plan – a massive amount of construction and development on this site,” he told the Vegas daily.
Good news for the Strip
Torino added that the site across from the CityCenter complex — which also houses the Vdara and Waldorf Astoria Las Vegas hotels, the Veer Towers condo complex and the mall’s high-end boutiques at Crystals — is just begging to be developed.
If the rumors are true, this could prove to be great news for The Strip, which has seen an exodus of many casino giants from Vegas over the past few months. For example, Las Vegas Sands has now completely exited the Strip, finally closing the sale of its The Venetian, The Palazzo and The Venetian Expo Center in February.
As reported by LVRJ, Fertitta and his publicly listed media contacts did not respond to calls for comment on his plans. Spectrum Group Management managing partner/portfolio manager Jeff Schaffer also declined to comment. His company currently co-owns the property with other investors.