The More Things Stay The Same
June 24, 2010
I’m not sure what to make of this:
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/jun/22/12-billion-fontainebleau-construction-permits-pull/
Some $1.2 billion in construction permits were pulled for the idled Fontainebleau casino resort on the Las Vegas Strip this month — but no one is saying if that means construction will actually resume anytime soon.
Clark County Development Services, the county office that tracks the issuance of building permits, reported last week that a company that acquired the Fontainebleau property on the Strip pulled 47 permits for projects at the development’s 2777 Las Vegas Blvd. South address.
But county officials said today this may be just a procedural effort … (snip) …
All the permits were issued June 10 and the total value of all 47 permits exceeds $1.2 billion.
Representatives of Icahn Enterprises and Taylor International did not return calls clarifying whether there are any plans to resume construction at Fontainebleau … (click the article link to read more)
As we are all aware, Carl “Yes” Icahn acquired the F’ingBlew in January, and construction on the property has been idle since that time. According to the above article, however, the pulled permits may actually be counterintuitive to the true intentions of the owner. Since permits are only good for 6 months, and building code requirement changes are imminent, this could mean that new applications are in the works.
Or maybe not.
I read the article three times, and frankly, it was less than clear as to what the true probabilities for either scenario were.
Even though the article is far from conclusive, I personally find the prospect that things might restart to be quite heartening. I’ve been following and photographing with great interest in the FBlue since it was a mere stump, and I was extremely disappointed when the project went belly-up.
Fontainebleau Las Vegas
Fontainebleau Las Vegas
Fontainebleau Las Vegas
The FBlue is an omnipresent fixture in Rexville, looming in the near-background of every home and business in the area, and it probably goes without saying that we all expected it to have been finished by now. In a very real way, the place was going to be our City Center.
The consensus among my own neighbors now is that Icahn is merely going to use the place as a pawn in his larger empire, and that it will be many years until anyone buys it with the intent of turning it into a fully-functional property. This is an opinion I share.
I think that for the foreseeable future, the property will be a plastic cube in a game of Monopoly played by wealthy old men with gigantic prostates and fake teeth, but I hope to be proven wrong.
Speaking of Rexville developments (or the lack thereof), I just realized that I have yet to see ANY progress on the upcoming Aspen Holdings project.
For those of you who do not remember, the corner of Sahara and Las Vegas Boulevard was supposed to be the site of a new “Times Square”-themed casino, and that casino was scheduled to open in the fall of 2010 (a few months from now). I passed the intersection earlier today, and believe me when I tell you, it looks exactly the same as it did this time last year. I do not see any hint of the 547′ LED sign that was proposed for the site.
Northeast Corner of Sahara Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard
Now, I’m no construction expert, but my guess is that if they have yet to start building, then the chances of a fall opening are pretty slim. My money is on the Times Square casino being more vaporware, but once again, I would be thrilled to be proven wrong.
Anyway, according to the mainstream press (which is 70%+ accurate), the Fontainebleau may or may not be resumed at some point in the future.
This may or may not be good news.
In 2010 Las Vegas, this is about as definitive as things get.
Written by ColinFromLasVegas on June 24, 2010 at 3:45 pm
That piece of property on the corner of Sahara Ave and Las Vegas Blvd hasn’t been successful at all since it used to be the Horse and Cow (? I think that was the name of that bar). I remember going in there with my friends at all times of the day and it used to be a hangout for casino workers who went off shift and wanted to socialize, drink and/or get something to eat. There was an elderly gentleman that was the bartender and he had a good sense of humor and was very professional and quick. Hell, that was years ago.
I was wondering about that news announcement of Times Square too. Guess it fell apart.
We’re still left with that ugly ass black building with old antiquated billboards on it for when they used it as offices to sell condos across the street that was originally owned by Trump’s divorced wife (and she subsequently sold out, couldn’t afford it), and they didn’t even bother to paint over that. Matter of fact, in your last picture, you can see fragments and phrases of that up on top of the building still. Whoever owns that now appears to do very little about it other than make sure it’s an eyesore.
I guess I’ll never believe another news item about the future of that building til I see they actually do something on that building.
Anyways, so much for our City Center.
Enjoyed the article.