Nearly a year after a partnership acquired a long-dormant 35-acre site on the Strip, preliminary details emerged this week concerning Alon Las Vegas, a hotel-casino project led by Australian billionaire James Packer and former Wynn Resorts executive Andrew Pascal.
Alon Leisure Management, LLC, which includes investment firm Oaktree Capital, filed paperwork with Clark County seeking the various land entitlements and permits for the site, which once housed the New Frontier Hotel and Casino.
Pascal, the former president of
Wynn Las Vegas, said in an interview Thursday the partnership has been putting together the operations team and spent the past 11 months “maturing the plan” for the hotel-casino.
He was somewhat upset that plans leaked out before the partnership was ready to unveil the development.
For now, all Pascal will say is the hotel will have 1,100 rooms over two towers “and will provide a full complement of integrated resort offerings.” He would not release any additional details or a cost for developing the hotel-casino.
“We are building a team of seasoned industry operators, entrepreneurs and global designers who bring a fresh, new approach to what we think the future of Las Vegas should be,” Pascal said.
In October, former SLS Las Vegas Hotel & Casino President Rob Osleand left the Strip resort and announced he was joining Pascal’s project.
“Rob and I have worked together for over 25 years,” Pascal said. “We have put together a tremendous team.”
Pascal said he wasn’t ready to name a general contractor and “additional details” will be released next month.
The site was subject of the Strip’s most expensive real estate transaction. Two Israeli companies bought the New Frontier and the land across from Wynn Las Vegas for $1.2 billion — roughly $24.8 million an acre — in 2007. The aging hotel-casino was demolished.
The companies planned to build a $5 billion hotel-casino based on the Plaza Hotel in New York City, but the recession killed the project.
Reportedly, Packer’s group paid $260 million to acquire the parcel. Packer is the CEO of Crown Resorts Ltd. in Melbourne, Australia. The company is also planning new casinos in Sydney and Brisbane, as well as in Sri Lanka. Crown has publicly indicated interest in Japan’s potential casino expansion.
Hong Kong-based Melco Crown Entertainment, which Packer jointly owns, has casinos in Macau.
Pascal said the strategic relationship with Crown will be an important aspect for Alon Las Vegas.
Packer — who has a net worth of $4.5 billion — is listed at No. 291 on the Forbes List of World Billionaires and is the second-richest person in Australia.
Pascal was president of Wynn Las Vegas from 2005 to 2010. In 2011, he started PlayStudios Inc., a Burlingame, Calif.-based social media company that created MyVegas, the social casino website for MGM Resorts International and Station Casinos.
Pascal was the CEO of slot machine developer Silicon Gaming from 1998 to 2001.
In May, Malaysia-based Genting Berhad held a formal groundbreaking for the $4 billion Resorts World Las Vegas on the former Echelon site, which is located next to the New Frontier parcel.
Pascal said the development of Resorts World does not influence the timeline for his partnership’s development.