Is the old magic still there? That’s the question that comes to mind regarding SBE Entertainment's plans to reopen the iconic Sahara hotel-casino. SBE is inching closer to answer: The Los Angeles-based company and its partner, Stockbridge Capital Group, have secured $300 million from J.P. Morgan to rebrand the 59-year-old Sahara into SLS Las Vegas.
SBE envisions a mixed-used resort with 1,600 guestrooms and suites and new restaurant and nightlife options. The company has tapped interior designer Philippe Starck and James Beard award-winning chef Jose Andres, among others. SBE has pegged the total cost of renovating the Sahara at $744 million.
“We see the northern end of the Strip as the future of Las Vegas, and we’re pleased to be positioned at the forefront of that growth,” SBE founder and CEO Sam Nazarian said in a statement. “Las Vegas has recovered steadily, and we’re excited to be able to inject capital back into the local economy through the adaptive reuse of the famed Sahara.”
SBE has remodeled properties in Beverly Hills, Hollywood and Miami's South Beach, but the Sahara poses a different challenge. In comparison with the Strip’s central area and its southern end, the northern end is desolate. The recession put the kibosh on a handful of projects that were under construction in the area — Fountainbleu, Echelon Place, the St. Regis Tower — and derailed plans for multibillion-dollar offerings from the likes MGM Resorts.
Recent trends have seen properties focus on renovation, pouring tens of millions or hundreds of millions of dollars into renewal projects. David Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said the plan to invest $744 million may or may not be enough to attract visitors.
“The kind of renovation that SBE is proposing, stripping the towers down to their skeletons, is far beyond what was done at the Tropicana (which underwent a $180 million renovation),” Schwartz said. “Though there was some structural demolition there [at the Trop], most of the work involved refreshing the rooms and public areas.
“Boyd [Gaming] said on its last conference call that any movement on Echelon was still two or three years off. It’s a national casino operator with a large player database to draw on. They could definitely fill a Strip casino with gamblers. If they don’t have the confidence to move forward with something, even a smaller Phase One project, why does SBE?”
In a statement, Terry Fancher, executive managing director of Stockbridge Capital Group, expressed confidence in the SLS plan. “This is yet another positive step for the SLS Las Vegas development. This project brings a new energy level to the north end of the Strip and will help drive the continuing economic rebound in Las Vegas.”