Marriott International will take a $50 million equity stake
in The Drew, a Las Vegas Strip resort that is being developed on the unfinished
Fontainebleau site.
Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson spoke about the investment during
the company's fourth-quarter earnings call Thursday.
The three-hotel project was announced earlier this week. Besides
owning a piece of the resort, Marriott will operate the JW Marriott, Edition
and Drew hotels (JW and Edition are Marriott brands). The JW Marriott is
expected to be the resort's largest hotel.
"We think the equity investment is likely to yield
positive returns," Sorenson said. "But in theory, if it delivered
nothing, it'd still be an excellent investment because of the fee stream."
Witkoff Group and New Valley LLC, the resort's primary investors, acquired the unfinished Fontainebleau site from
financier Carl Icahn last summer for $600 million.
The Drew is expected to open in 2020.