A look at Vegas’ past and future! Part 1 of 2
Posted by Luxury Realty Group - March 13th, 2007
Categories: High Rise Condos
With roughly 20 Billion dollars worth of construction happening in and around the Core and North Strip alone, its apparent that Las Vegas is reinventing itself once again. Developments like MGM CityCenter and Echelon Place will introduce high end boutique hotels and residences such as the Veer condos at CityCenter and Shangri-La at Echelon. Lets take a look back to better understand where we are today.
Its my personal opinion that Vegas’ present and past can be divided into 4 segments. Lets take a look at the first two in part one of this story.
1. The Mob Beginning
The mafia created Vegas, but the interesting thing is they created it as a clean and safe place to have fun and gamble. It was a legitimate business, nobody wanted to bring the heat to their money maker. Small crime did not happen. It is said that back in the day, you could walk through a dark alley with a clear purse and a million dollars in it and not a single person would touch you.
The main draw was gaming, rooms were comped and food was cheap. Can anyone say 99 cent buffet? While petty crime was non existent, organized crime started to draw the attention of the FBI.
2. Howard Hughes Comes Into Town
On November 27th 1966 Howard Hughes showed up in Vegas via train. He took up residence in a penthouse at the Desert Inn. These penthouses were for high rollers and gamblers, yet Howard just stayed quietly in the penthouse, never coming down to gamble. When the mob ran hotel caught on they came knocking on the door and asked what was going on. They explained to him that he either gambles, or he leaves. A voice was heard from the back of the room…”Ask them how much they want for the place!”…….The rest is history.
Over the next four years Howard Hughes bought up 45% percent of Las Vegas’ casino property. Along with the FBI busting up the Strip, Howard’s purchases pretty much ended mob rule in Sin City and lead the way for a “cleaner” Las Vegas.
Howard Hughes’ hotels were not as profitable as he would have liked. The 22,500 acres that he purchased 12 miles west of The Strip would turn out to be his long lasting legacy in Nevada. Today that land has become known as Summerlin, and it has become one of the largest master planned communities in the United States.
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.