A look at Vegas’ past and future! Part 2 of 2
Posted by Luxury Realty Group - March 27th, 2007
Categories: High Rise Condos
In part one of this article we discussed past history. In part two we will analyze the impact Steve Wynn’s Mirage had on this great city as well as why and how highrise condo projects in Las Vegas are leading the way to a more boutique and high end LV BLVD.
It’s my personal opinion that Vegas’ present and past can be divided into 4 segments. Lets take a look at the last two in part two of this story.
3. The Theme Era and Family Fun
In 1989 Steve Wynn opened The Mirage. Did you know that people thought he was crazy? Remember up until now most everything was comped in Las Vegas. Hotels made money off the gaming, the food was cheap and many times rooms were comped to those spending money on the casino floor. Show tickets were either very cheap or given away and of course the .99 cent buffet reigned supreme.
The goal of The Mirage was to build a fantastic place that would draw in and keep people on site. A volcano in the middle of the desert. With a total cost of around 600 million, it seemed ludicrous to most observers. A totally unproven tactic for Sin City and very risky. It would have to generate 1 million dollars a day to be profitable…imagine that type of risk. Well guess what? It generated 3 million a day in profit and a slacking Vegas was reborn.
Over the next few years many themed hotels and family based shows ruled the strip. Excalibur, Luxor, New York New York, MGM Grand and even Mandalay Bay can attribute their existence to the volcano that blew fire into the air starting in 1989.
Another interesting even that took place was the single family home market boom over the next 10 years. Homes in Summerlin Nevada (one of the nation’s largest master planned communities) went for sale and the rest is history.
4. The boutique high end transition.
While it was fun, people started to realize that The Strip was for adults and not for children. In addition, with more legalized gaming in other states, Sin City could not survive alone on gambling anymore. The city needed to reinvent itself as a place people could come to be pampered and experience fine dining, luxury shopping as well as world class spa’s and entertainment. It needed to set a new standard.
Luxury and service made their appearance starting with THE hotel at Mandalay Bay, The Bellagio and the 3 billion dollar Wynn Hotel. Another interesting trend was highrise condo projects in Las Vegas began to be announced around every corner. THE hotel had a real impact as it catered to the professional who wanted a true 4-5 start hotel experience. Room rates were higher and they booked with ease.
In 2007 a true boutique Vegas is full in swing. Projects like the 7 billion dollar MGM CityCenter project bring a high end luxury to the Core LV BLVD area while projects like Sky Las Vegas Condos bring luxury to the North Strip section.
Check out the Las Vegas High Rise Blog home page to access part one to this story.
Aaron Auxier, REALTOR® can be reached at 702-205-1818.
Luxury Realty Group is recognized by the press as a leading brokerage on the Strip. They can be seen on networks and in publications such as CNBC, Forbes Magazine, Details, LV Business Press, Wall Street Journal, The Review Journal, Los Angeles Times and USA Today.
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Copyright © 2007 Aaron Auxier. All Rights Reserved.
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All information in this blog is subject to change without notice. Subject matter is not guaranteed and is often considered time-sensitive. See DISCLAIMER.
Copyright © 2008 Luxury Realty Group LLC. All rights reserved.