Clark County Commissioners are busy this month, as they are asked to vote on a project that would significantly affect the entire Strip region.
The project is about substituting The Mirage’s unique volcanic attraction with a guitar-shaped hotel tower.
Scheduled vote and plans for Mirage:
A formal vote by the County Commission will be held March 22 to discuss Hard Rock International’s proposed 600-room high-rise at the already sprawling resort, according to county records.
Hard Rock pointed out it will restore the existing 3,044-room hotel-casino and construct a guitar-shaped tower off Las Vegas Boulevard, part of its intention to make The Mirage an official Hard Rock-branded resort.
On that note, project representative Jennifer Lazovich, a land use attorney with the law firm Kaempfer Crowell, said in a letter to the county: “The musical instrument-shaped project will be an engineering masterpiece.
“At 660 feet tall, the high-rise is designed to resemble back-to-back guitars with brightly lit strings and would feature floor-to-ceiling glass panes.
“It will forever change the skyline of the Strip.”
Buying The Mirage:
Florida-based Hard Rock International, which is operated by th 7BALL e Seminole Indian Tribe, revealed plans to build a guitar-shaped tower at the casino-resort in late 2021, when its purchase was first officially disclosed.
After that, Hard Rock bought The Mirage from previous owners, MGM Resorts International, in December for 1.08 billion in cash.
The Mirage purchase paved the way for the Seminole Tribe, which purchased the Hard Rock brand in 2007, in the fertile but highly competitive casino-resort business on Las Vegas Boulevard.
In this regard, The Mirage’s real estate owner, Vici Properties said: “Our lease with Hard Rock calls for initial annual rent of $90 million.”
Petition to save The Mirage’s volcano:
Steve Wynn, a casino developer, founded and officially launched The Mirage in 1989. It was the Strip’s first contemporary megaresort and quickly drew a large crowd and became widely-known over the years for its unique volcano and long-running performances by Siegfried & Roy.
The project also began a decades-long streak in Las Vegas of constructing massive, amenity-heavy casino-resorts.
However, because of the project, the volcano’s faith remains unknown, which is why a Change.org petition to “save” The Mirage’s volcano had collected 8,795 signatures by Tuesday evening.
The petition states: “From day one The Volcano has been delighting the Mirage’s visitors to what is an increasingly rare and totally awesome free Vegas attraction and highly emotional experience. … Frankly, it should be a historical landmark.”
Hard Rock Hotel:
The previous Hard Rock Hotel off the Strip was separately owned. A group that involved billionaire Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, purchased the hotel-casino back in 2018 from the Toronto-based investment gigant for approximately $500 million.
After that, the hotel became Virgin Hotels Las Vegas in an estimated $200 million overhaul.
On that note, Jim Allen, president of Hard Rock International, told Nevada casino regulators in December: “My company had a chance to acquire that property but passed in favor of a location on the Strip.”
