Talk:Fontainebleau Las Vegas

ADD TO THE LIST OF LAS VEGAS CASINOS THAT NEVER OPENED.

While it is true it is 70% complete, it is also about $3.5 Billion dollars from completion, and no one plans to even look at it for over a decade, which in Las Vegas is, indeed, "never". This name should be on the List of Las Vegas Casinos that never opened. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.160.153.209 (talk) 03:05, 13 May 2015 (UTC)

I think that list is mainly for casinos that do not have their own article, although the Fontainebleau could at least be mentioned there at some point in the future, if it, indeed, never opens. But for now, there still seems to be uncertainty about the resort. The last I heard, Icahn has not actually specified his plans for the Fontainebleau. It could still be opened. I'm not sure if you were joking when you said that no one plans to look at the building for more than a decade. I haven't heard about that. AJFU (talk) 16:10, 13 May 2015 (UTC)

Update Introduction

Hi there. My name is Cade and I work for Fontainebleau Las Vegas. I would like to propose the following as an updated lead. This version makes it clear that a lot has happened to the project since 2005, and briefly summarizes the most important points found in the rest of the article.

The Fontainebleau Las Vegas is a resort and casino currently under construction on the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada. It is on the 24.5-acre (9.9 ha) site previously occupied by the El Rancho Hotel and Casino and the Algiers Hotel. Ownership, planning, and development of the project has changed hands and been altered several times since May 2005, when the first Fontainebleau Las Vegas project was initiated by Jeff Soffer, owner of Fontainebleau Resorts, the developer, as a sister property to Fontainebleau Miami Beach.

The hotel tower rises 68 stories, standing 737 feet high. It is the tallest building in Las Vegas and in the state, excluding the nearby Strat observation tower. The original Fontainebleau was designed by Carlos Zapata Studio with Bergman Walls and Associates as the executive architect.

In 2010, Carl Icahn purchased the project out of bankruptcy, but never restarted construction. Seven years later, in August 2017, the still unfinished resort was sold to investment firms Witkoff Group and New Valley LLC.

In February 2021, Soffer bought back the project from the Witkoff Group and New Valley LLC through his company Fontainebleau Development with Koch Real Estate Investment as a partner. Steve Witkoff, founder of the Witkoff group, had renamed the project The Drew Las Vegas, but Soffer reinstated the original name of the project. Construction resumed in November 2021. The resort is scheduled to open on December 13, 2023, and will include a 173,000 sq ft (16,100 m2) casino and 3,644 hotel rooms.

I am working on an updated version of the full article as well, and would be happy to share it for discussion once it's complete. I look forward to your input. Thank you for your help. Cade Stiles (talk) 19:08, 5 October 2023 (UTC)

This is pretty good, and I agree that the current lead is a bit bloated, although your version omits some details that are worth keeping. Here is an altered version that adds some of those details back in while retaining conciseness.  AJFU  (talk) 13:57, 6 October 2023 (UTC)

Hi AJFU. Thanks for responding so quickly. I am fine with your suggestions, so please go ahead and implement the new intro. I mentioned above that I am working on an updated version of the entire article that trims some of the information that is no longer relevant or potentially just TMI, as well as some updates. What would be the best way to present it or share it with you here? I can post it as a user space draft (with or without markup) if you think that would be best. I look forward to working with you on this! Cade Stiles (talk) 20:39, 9 October 2023 (UTC)

Hi. Yes, I think a userspace draft would be the easiest way to do this. Whatever you type there should include the usual markup, like square brackets for links (more markup info is here if you need it).  AJFU  (talk) 13:11, 10 October 2023 (UTC)

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The '''Fontainebleau Las Vegas''' is a [[resort]] and [[casino]] currently under construction on the [[Las Vegas Strip]] in [[Winchester, Nevada|Winchester]], [[Nevada]]. It is on the 24.5-acre (9.9 ha) site previously occupied by the [[El Rancho Hotel and Casino]] and the [[Algiers Hotel]]. Ownership, planning, and development of the project has changed hands and been altered several times since May 2005, when the first Fontainebleau Las Vegas project was initiated by Jeff Soffer, owner of [[Fontainebleau Resorts]], the developer, as a sister property to [[Fontainebleau Miami Beach]]. The hotel tower rises 68 stories, standing 737 feet high. It is the [[List of tallest buildings in Las Vegas|tallest building in Las Vegas]] and [[List of tallest buildings in Nevada|in the state]], excluding the nearby [[The Strat (Las Vegas)|Strat]] observation tower. The original Fontainebleau was designed by [[Carlos Zapata|Carlos Zapata Studio]] with Bergman Walls and Associates as the executive architect. In 2010, [[Carl Icahn]] purchased the project out of bankruptcy, but never restarted construction. Seven years later, in August 2017, the still unfinished resort was sold to investment firms [[Steve Witkoff|Witkoff Group]] and [[New Valley LLC]]. In February 2021, Soffer bought back the project from the Witkoff Group and New Valley LLC through his company Fontainebleau Development with Koch Real Estate Investment as a partner. Steve Witkoff, founder of the Witkoff group, had renamed the project The Drew Las Vegas, but Soffer reinstated the original name of the project. Construction resumed in November 2021. The resort is scheduled to open on December 13, 2023, and will include a 173,000 sq ft (16,100 m2) casino and 3,644 hotel rooms.

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The '''Fontainebleau Las Vegas''' is a [[resort]] and [[casino]] under construction on the [[Las Vegas Strip]] in [[Winchester, Nevada|Winchester]], [[Nevada]]. It is a sister property to [[Fontainebleau Miami Beach]], and sits on the 24.5-acre (9.9 ha) site previously occupied by the [[El Rancho Hotel and Casino]] and the [[Algiers Hotel]]. Ownership and development has changed several times since the project was announced in May 2005. It was originally proposed by developer [[Fontainebleau Resorts]], owned by Jeff Soffer. The project was designed by [[Carlos Zapata Studio]] with Bergman Walls and Associates as the executive architect. Construction began in February 2007, and the hotel tower was [[Topping out|topped off]] on November 14, 2008. The tower rises 68 stories, standing 737 feet high. It is the [[List of tallest buildings in Nevada|tallest building in Nevada]], excluding the nearby [[The Strat (Las Vegas)|Strat]] observation tower. A group of banks had agreed to finance the project, but was sued by Fontainebleau in April 2009, after it cut off funding. Construction was put on hold two months later, when the project entered [[Chapter 11]] bankruptcy. The Fontainebleau was 70-percent completed, and the opening had been scheduled for October 2009. [[Carl Icahn]] purchased the project out of bankruptcy in 2010, but never restarted construction. Seven years later, the unfinished resort was sold to investment firms [[Witkoff Group]] and [[New Valley LLC]], which planned to open it as '''The Drew Las Vegas''' in 2022. However, construction stopped in March 2020, due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic in Nevada]]. In February 2021, Soffer bought back the project through his company Fontainebleau Development, with [[Koch Industries|Koch Real Estate Investments]] as a partner. Soffer reinstated the original name of the project, with construction resuming in November 2021. The resort is scheduled to open on December 13, 2023, and will include a 173,000 sq ft (16,100 m<sup>2</sup>) casino and 3,644 hotel rooms.

Hi AJFU. Thanks for implementing the new version of the introduction. As discussed above, I have created a draft of this article and posted it to my user space. I would really appreciate it if you can look it over and see if you agree that this version strictly stays on topic, removes old and outdated information, and enhances clarity for the reader. If you have any concerns or questions, I am more than happy to discuss. Looking forward to your input, and thank you for your time- Cade.

This looks great overall. I suggest restoring a few things (noted below) that seem noteworthy. If there are no objections, I can make these changes myself in the article when I add in the other changes that you've proposed.

• The "Early days" section looks fine, although I would keep the name "Background", which sounds more formal and is a common section title in articles. The only other change I would make is to restore this: The hotel tower would have 3,889 rooms, including 2,871 hotel rooms and 1,018 condo hotel units. It's concise and certainly noteworthy.

• "Financial issues" looks fine as well, although I would restore a brief mention of the condos. Something like, The sale of condo units had been pivotal to paying off the project's debt, although the 2008 financial crisis and weak demand in the local condo market forced Fontainebleau Resorts to reassess this strategy.

• I think this is noteworthy to include somewhere. It's a trimmed version of what is currently in the article: Construction had begun before final designs were finished, a common practice for Las Vegas resorts to get them opened sooner. However, this would often result in costly do-over work having to be done. When Fontainebleau halted construction, there were still areas of the project that had yet to be finalized. Some areas, such as the casino and hotel rooms, had undergone numerous redesigns. Restaurants were among the uncompleted portions of the resort, although many hotel rooms had been finished. If you have no objection, I might try to work it into the construction section. I would also re-add that the resort was 70-percent completed and that it was only four months away from opening (both facts that are mentioned already in the lead section).

• Here is a truncated version of some things that you removed. It helps explain why Icahn did nothing with the property for five years, and why a cosmetic wrap was needed. Icahn planned to wait for an economic rebound before deciding on what to do with the Fontainebleau. In October 2010, he auctioned off furnishings for the resort, indicating that he had no intention of finishing the project. A large crane, used for constructing the hotel tower, was dismantled in May 2014. The crane, like the unfinished resort, was considered an eyesore and a reminder of the Great Recession. Rusted, lower-floor portions, located along the sidewalk on Las Vegas Boulevard, also presented a poor appearance for the area. In 2015, Icahn agreed to county requests for an exterior upgrade in the form of a cosmetic wrap.

• In the Drew section, I would add this, The Drew name was a tribute to Witkoff's deceased 22-year-old son, Andrew Witkoff, who died of an OxyContin overdose in 2011., and would mention that the 2019 delay was attributed to ongoing design work.

• These seem interesting enough to keep: Soffer had given little thought to returning to the project, until the pandemic resulted in the opportunity to buy it back. and Soffer stuck largely to the project's original plans; changes included a reduction in the retail component and the removal of condominiums. The latter helps convey the differences between the current Fontainebleau and the one that was planned years ago.

 AJFU  (talk) 17:26, 19 October 2023 (UTC)

Hi AJFU. I am pleased to hear you are satisfied with my draft. All your suggested additions seem reasonable to me. However, there is one addition I would like to change just a bit. In the last bullet point, can you change “Soffer had given little thought to returning to the project until the pandemic created the opportunity to buy it back,” to this: Although Soffer was busy with other projects at that time, when the pandemic hit he saw a ‘great opportunity’ to return to the project and decided to buy it back. Aside from that one change, please go ahead and implement my draft with your suggested additions as you outlined above. Thanks so much, Cade. Cade Stiles (talk) 20:08, 26 October 2023 (UTC)

References

Theme

I noticed in the info-box that no theme has been listed. I think it's safe to say that it's a Miami theme. I live not too far from the place and from what I have seen of the outside and the photos of the inside I have seen, that it certainly has a Miami theme and is based on it's sister property in Miami Beach. Any thoughts? --LasVegasGirl93 (talk) 17:56, 12 December 2023 (UTC)

I have not found any sources calling it a themed property. The developers, to my knowledge, also haven't said anything about it having a theme.  AJFU  (talk) 18:56, 12 December 2023 (UTC)

Let's just sit tight and see what the owners say of the property and see how everything inside looks. --LasVegasGirl93 (talk) 20:13, 13 December 2023 (UTC)

Could we update the photo?

Since Fontainebleau opened a couple days ago, I was thinking maybe we can update the photo that's opened now. EverestMachine 4001 (talk) 03:59, 16 December 2023 (UTC)

There should absolutely be a new photo now that it’s been open for almost a month. One or two photos of the inside might be a good idea as well. --LasVegasGirl93 (talk) 00:10, 6 January 2024 (UTC)

Times Square Ball with Bowties

Hi AJFU. Can you kindly add this update to the page at the end of the "Fontainebleau revival and opening: 2021-present" section:

In honor of the newly opened Fontainebleau Las Vegas and the 70th anniversary of its sister hotel in Miami Beach, the iconic Times Square New Year's Eve Ball featured a new bow tie lighting pattern designed by Fontainebleau's Chief Brand and Design Officer, Peter Arnell, connecting the bow tie theme of the two hotels with Times Square, which was once known as "the bow tie." Fontainebleau was one of the 2023 sponsors of the Time Square Alliance, which oversees the New Years Eve festivities.

References

Thank you. Cade Stiles (talk) 16:01, 9 January 2024 (UTC)

I've added it in, but made a few changes for conciseness. Also, words like "iconic" should be avoided per MOS:FLOWERY.  AJFU  (talk) 14:22, 11 January 2024 (UTC)

Hall of Excellence

Hi. Please add the following paragraph to the end of the "Fontainebleau revival and opening: 2021–present" section to update.

On February 9, 2024, a ceremony was held at the hotel celebrating the opening of the opening of the "Hall of Excellence", a museum on the hotel's premises showcasing sports memorabilia and artifacts donated from the collections of Tom Brady and Jim Gray. The design and architecture of the exhibition was created by Chief Brand and Design Officer Peter Arnell. .

References

Thanks so much. Cade Stiles (talk) 16:35, 13 February 2024 (UTC)

I've added this to the "Features" section, which is a better place for it. I made some minor corrections to the wording, and added an additional source.  AJFU  (talk) 16:21, 16 February 2024 (UTC)

Thanks AJFU for implementing my edit request. Much appreciated. Cade Stiles (talk) 16:20, 28 February 2024 (UTC)