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  #121  
Old Posted Apr 11, 2006, 8:58 PM
SpeedyFarrar SpeedyFarrar is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ScottG
did any one notice the race track on the saharah parkin lot behind turnberry tower 1?
It's a new attraction at Sahara, GM - The Drive. Basically, you can test drive GM vehicles on their little racecourse.
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  #122  
Old Posted Apr 11, 2006, 9:01 PM
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Rainbow Six Vegas

That's good news about Club Ren. They've always been on my short list of projects I expected to be cancelled. If anyone on here is a video game fan there's a Rainbow Six game coming out that is set in Las Vegas. It looks like they've gone with generic names for the casinos and taken some liberties with the strip, but for the most part it seems like a fun reproduction.

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  #123  
Old Posted Apr 11, 2006, 11:35 PM
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Ruffin's plans for the New Frontier are revealed.

From the Las Vegas Sun

As other casino operators announce plans to redevelop their older properties, New Frontier owner Phil Ruffin hasn't had a lot to say about his long-awaited plans for his aging Strip hotel.

Ruffin says he's not sitting on his hands.

The name of his planned megaresort will be Montreux, after the Swiss resort with a famous annual jazz festival.

Ruffin says he is close to announcing a financing package.

"These things take time," Ruffin said. "It can take nine months to do an architectural plan and five months to come up with parking plans."

"I'm trying to do something nobody's ever done before, which is develop a resort without any help or partners. It's very hard to do," he said.

To capitalize on the resort's brand, Ruffin said he's also working on plans to bring the internationally known Montreux Jazz Festival to the new property, which is scheduled to break ground sometime next year and open by 2010.

The New Frontier would be closed and demolished before ground is broken on the Montreux.

The new hotel would have about 2,750 rooms, including about 750 suites, and cater to customers who patronize high-end properties such as the Mirage or Paris Las Vegas, Ruffin said.

Perhaps the most-talked about feature would be an "observation wheel" that would be positioned in front of the property and facing the Strip.

Ruffin said the wheel, tentatively called the "Las Vegas Eye," is modeled after the famed London Eye. It would enable tourists to take pictures of the Strip from slow-moving, temperature-controlled cabins that rise to more than 450 feet in the air.

The wheel was approved in February by the Clark County Commission along with plans for the new resort.

"I rode on the London Eye, and it was just packed with people," Ruffin said. "It should do very, very well in Las Vegas."

Ruffin wouldn't be the only Las Vegas resort owner to flirt with the idea of a giant Ferris wheel.

The owners of the now-closed Wet 'n Wild amusement park, the redevelopers of the Westward Ho site, the Rio and developers with a site next to the Aladdin have all pitched plans that included observation wheels.

To date, none has been started.

Bill Thompson, a professor of public administration at UNLV, said the observation wheel sounds like a "neat idea."

"It will be noticed. And I suppose if you're building something across from Steve Wynn, you've got to do something to stand out," Thompson said.

But the resort will also need a full complement of upscale restaurants and shopping to attract discriminating customers, he said.

While the Montreux name might not mean much to consumers, the resort could be a hit if it uses the association with the jazz festival to create a niche for jazz musicians and performances at the property, Thompson added.

"We don't really have a Strip casino that advertises good jazz music," he said.

Rising construction costs have pushed up the price tag for the resort to around $2 billion. The design is also more upscale than originally planned, Ruffin said.

Wall Street has awaited Ruffin's redevelopment impatiently, attributing his inaction to financing problems stemming in part from a desire to contribute relatively little in equity and a lack of management expertise.

Others reject that idea, saying Ruffin has plenty of money to finance the project and can hire resort management expertise.

He is one of America's richest businessmen but is known as a conservative investor. Forbes has estimated Ruffin's net worth about $1.3 billion.

Ruffin said business partner Donald Trump will not be involved in the resort.

Jack Wishna, a minority partner in the nearby Trump International hotel-condominium tower under construction, said Ruffin and Trump had discussed branding the redeveloped New Frontier as a Trump property, but that Ruffin has decided to put his own stamp on the resort instead.

"Donald would do it tomorrow," Wishna said. "But Phil doesn't need a financial partner and is creating, in essence, a legacy for his family."

Financing has never been a problem, although Ruffin previously was reluctant to put up other assets as equity to redevelop the New Frontier, Wishna said.

Now that the land underlying the New Frontier is worth much more than it was a few years ago, Ruffin can finance the project with a combination of equity from the value of the land as well as cash.

"Financing is not the problem," Wishna said. "The decision (to redevelop) rests with Phil Ruffin. He doesn't feel any pressure whatsoever from the market. He's not going to let the zealousness of development along Las Vegas Boulevard influence him."

Ruffin said he will likely sell some bonds to help finance the resort. Not counting the land for the two neighboring Trump towers, the 35-acre resort site could be worth at least $700 million, he said. That land, plus $150 million from the sale of a resort in the Bahamas and other cash on hand will allow him to finance a resort priced at $2 billion or more.

The 1,282-unit Trump tower, the biggest condo project under construction on the Strip, is scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2008. The county has yet to approve plans for a second, identical tower.

Ruffin is a 50-50 partner with Trump in the first tower, which has nearly sold out.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/st...566618115.html
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  #124  
Old Posted Apr 13, 2006, 1:55 AM
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Wow Rainbow Six Vegas looks great, the strip shot looked real for a second, but it looks like NYNY was completley replaced by that ugly looking resort, Caesars Palace isnt there but it looks like that ugly resort on the corner of the shot. The Polo towers and Mariotts Grand is gone too. They better change the Aladdin to Planet Hollywood...



Maybe they will add all those resorts and change aladdin before the game comes out, it comes out in 2007 anyways....

Heres a cool shot of the Bellagio, hopefully they add the cosmopolitan soon

Last edited by Patrick; Apr 13, 2006 at 2:05 AM.
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  #125  
Old Posted Apr 13, 2006, 8:17 PM
Jade456 Jade456 is offline
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Despite recent cancellations, it seems there isn't going to be a shortage of new projects. The smart ones will line up the construction materials before hand, like Turnberry did. That way it won't matter if construction material prices keep going up, there's are already paid for. I'm wondering if the charlie palmer place will get off the ground...
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  #126  
Old Posted Apr 13, 2006, 8:38 PM
MsuMix MsuMix is offline
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When is Skywalk Grand Canyon going to open?
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  #128  
Old Posted Apr 14, 2006, 2:14 AM
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Good find Speedy!! Interesting the towers on Tropicana and Deckow have a glass clad circular tower as the centerpiece. That is something new to Vegas. Not all that tall though at 320 feet.

It was about time that some new proposals came in..
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  #129  
Old Posted Apr 14, 2006, 5:18 AM
GeorgeLV GeorgeLV is offline
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SpeedyFarrar, the Turnberry item is part of the u/c Town Square next to the 215-15 interchange (Fry's).

http://www.turnberry.com/tanews42.htm
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  #130  
Old Posted Apr 14, 2006, 5:23 AM
GeorgeLV GeorgeLV is offline
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According to the Planet Hollywood item the final height of the tower is 534ft, with 56 floors.
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  #131  
Old Posted Apr 14, 2006, 6:40 AM
SpeedyFarrar SpeedyFarrar is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GeorgeLV
SpeedyFarrar, the Turnberry item is part of the u/c Town Square next to the 215-15 interchange (Fry's).

http://www.turnberry.com/tanews42.htm
Oh I see, makes more sense now! Those agendas aren't the easiest things to read, that's for sure. Luckily all of us here can put our heads together and figure it out
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  #132  
Old Posted Apr 14, 2006, 6:41 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GeorgeLV
According to the Planet Hollywood item the final height of the tower is 534ft, with 56 floors.
As a general rule, most buildings are at least 10 feet per floor.. This is the second tower that doesn't follow that rule, the other being Trump towers. Interesting... Those are going to be some low ceilings..
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  #133  
Old Posted Apr 14, 2006, 5:11 PM
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No light rail for Vegas. RTC chooses express buses instead.
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_ho...s/6858629.html


Quote:
Apr. 14, 2006
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

RTC takes buses over light rail for rapid transit line

Other concerns won't be decided for years

By OMAR SOFRADZIJA
REVIEW-JOURNAL
Express buses -- not light rail trains -- will ply a planned Las Vegas Valley rapid transit line if or when it's built in the coming years, the Regional Transportation Commission decided Thursday.

And whether Henderson will be served by a route, and where that route might go, won't be decided for years to come, commission board officials said after unanimously approving an express bus plan.

In the end, a combination of route flexibility offered by buses and not by trains; the cheaper up-front cost of buses; and opposition from some Henderson residents swayed the board in its plan for a so-called regional fixed guideway, parts of which could open as soon as 2008.

"I think we need to move forward with a fixed guideway system as a necessary component of the future (transportation network here). But we don't have unlimited funding," said Bruce Woodbury, a Clark County commissioner who's also the Transportation Commission's chairman.

"And we don't have the luxury of locking ourselves into a system that does not have flexibility," Woodbury said. "A rail system would have that lack of flexibility."

The line is likely to strongly resemble the existing Metropolitan Area Express, or MAX, line now in operation on Las Vegas Boulevard North, which uses bus-only lanes and makes limited stops to shorten travel times.

The planned system is expected to cost $713 million to build, compared to a projected $1.1 billion price tag for light rail. Those price tags are in 2006 dollars; inflation is expected to drive up projected costs by 35 percent.

"It looks like a train. It functions like a train," said Jacob Snow, commission general manager. "The MAX system has a significant cost advantage over rail.

"This is the best way to go for the community," Snow said.

This week's vote does not ensure the line will be built. It simply allows commission staff to start an environmental impact study on a proposed 33-mile route from North Las Vegas, through downtown Las Vegas and the resort corridor, and into Henderson; and to start trying to find funding for the project.

But the endorsement does give momentum to the plan, which had long been a favored goal of commission staff wanting to create transit options for valley drivers.

The roughly 15-mile Henderson section -- which would run along existing Union Pacific Railroad tracks there, and which faced vocal opposition from some homeowners living along the route -- appears simply to be a placeholder in the upcoming study.

Woodbury said the commission will later determine if that Henderson route is feasible, if other routes are preferable, or if that leg should be ditched. Either way, the Henderson leg would be the last to be considered or built.

"You go where the need is. You go where the ridership is," Woodbury said. "Does that mean we'll never go to Henderson? Someday, in the future, there well may be a need. But what route we take will be determined in the future."

In making its decision, the commission backed Snow's recommendation to use express buses; rejected a steering committee call to use light rail after a 15-month study; and rejected both sides' preference to lock in the entire route as proposed.

The system's initial leg is expected to trace what was once the approximate route of a proposed downtown Las Vegas Monorail connector. That route would stretch from the monorail's Sahara Avenue stop along Casino Center Boulevard to Fremont Street.

Transit officials had already been planning an express bus route along that leg, separate from the guideway project. Now, the connector will be part of the guideway plan.

"I think it's critical to the success of what the city of Las Vegas is trying to accomplish (downtown)," said Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, who sits on the Transportation Commission board. "Our vitality is dependent on people being able to reach us in a timely, pleasant fashion."

The downtown section could open by late 2008 or 2009. Other sections are unlikely to be in place before 2012.

From downtown, the route would branch in two directions: northeast along Fifth Street, Centennial Parkway and Pecos Road to a North Las Vegas terminal; and south through the resort corridor along Frank Sinatra Drive to the vicinity of McCarran International Airport.

That southern route could connect to the Henderson leg, if built.

Snow said the route could be further tweaked or extended to include destinations like the University of Nevada, Las Vegas or the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Critics of the Henderson section have argued a rapid transit line would slow traffic where roads and routes cross, depress property values and go unused in a car-addicted community with historically light mass transit use.

In February, opponents presented the commission with a 722-signature petition opposing the whole plan.

Snow said the proposal was a "very difficult subject of our community to discuss."

After the commission vote, some transit foes said they could live with the decision.

"They're going to go where it's needed, and not where it's not. It should be where the need is greatest," said Wendy Lee Meoz, a steering committee member who opposed light rail and questioned the need for the Henderson leg.

"It would cause a lot more problems than it would cure," Meoz said.

Rob Koeb's Henderson home abuts those tracks. He's glad a light rail line won't go there.

"None of us are against rapid transit. We're just against the section on the Union Pacific tracks," Koeb said.

Henderson will not be totally shut out of rapid transit service. Commission officials plan to tie the guideway into a MAX route planned for Boulder Highway, between the U.S. Highway 95 junction in Henderson and downtown Las Vegas.

Likewise, the existing Las Vegas Boulevard North MAX route will plug into the guideway at some point.

Jane Feldman, who sat on the steering committee representing the Sierra Club, had hoped light rail would win the day. "Light rail has a broader market appeal," she said.

Rapid transit supporters expect as many as 80,000 people a day to ride such a system, but critics think the totals would be much lower than that.

Project funding could receive a private sector boost from Connex/ATC, which operates Citizens Area Transit bus service under a contract with the commission. The company has expressed interest in helping pay for an express bus line here.

The parent company of Connex/ATC, Veolia Transportation, subsidized the "Transmilenio" bus rapid transit, or BRT, service it runs under a government contract in Bogata, Colombia that carries around 1 million riders per day.

"We would be happy to discuss further the feasibility of a partially privately funded BRT project," Connex North America Chief Executive Olivier Brousse said in a Feb. 20 letter to the Transportation Commission. The letter did not spell out any terms or precise commitments.

"They would provide a significant amount of the local (funding) match that could alleviate the need for a local tax increase to help finance the system," Snow said
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  #134  
Old Posted Apr 14, 2006, 8:42 PM
GeorgeLV GeorgeLV is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vegasrain84
As a general rule, most buildings are at least 10 feet per floor.. This is the second tower that doesn't follow that rule, the other being Trump towers. Interesting... Those are going to be some low ceilings..
Reinforced concrete doesn't require much spacing between floors, so even with all the duct work they could probably still provide be at least 8ft ceilings on each floor.
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  #135  
Old Posted Apr 14, 2006, 9:05 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bender13
No light rail for Vegas. RTC chooses express buses instead.

There are good points made within the article. However, I believe there is still a negative stigma against any kind of bus centered transit system. I just do not think they will see the kind of ridership they expect with this glorified bus system, IMO.

Anyway thanks for the info Speedy, glad to see projects still being proposed.
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  #136  
Old Posted Apr 15, 2006, 1:31 AM
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According to the Review Journal, Juhl Lofts is officially under construction.
According to VegasTodayandTomorrow ground has been broken on Streamline Towers.
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Last edited by vegasrain84; Apr 21, 2006 at 7:01 PM.
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  #137  
Old Posted Apr 15, 2006, 1:50 AM
GeorgeLV GeorgeLV is offline
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vegasrain84, depends on you defintion of u/c. Right now they're doing utility relocation.
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  #138  
Old Posted Apr 15, 2006, 6:27 AM
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Cool Streamline

Seems like a perpetual project relocating utilities in multiple announcements much like Vegas Grand moving dirt for over a year. Let's hope Streamline really starts excavation and brings steel out of the ground. Then we'll know it's for real. If the new Freemont street extension was already in place, Streamline would have long been sold out. Difficult for buyers to visualize when the future designs promised aren't in place.
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  #139  
Old Posted Apr 15, 2006, 6:31 AM
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Cool Research Needed for Two Projects

Trying to find out details for two projects. Haven't found them on the county planning website unless I missed them.
1) Centex's plans for the Westward Ho property. The old casino is now gone and grading of the land is going non-stop it seems. Hopefully they won't implement that ferris wheel project but who knows. With that area becoming close to a residential corridor with Sky and Turnberry Place, would be awesome to see Center build luxury high rises or a luxury condo-hotel.

2)Travelodge plus Arco service station land adjacent to Sky. Underground tanks have already been excavated from the old Arco station and soon the Travelodge will be taken out. What is planned for this newly assembled acreage?
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  #140  
Old Posted Apr 17, 2006, 5:23 PM
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Ha, I kind of like the giant ferris wheel. I hope it's built somewhere, either on the Ho site or the Frontier site.

Didn't Streamline tower have a groundbreaking ceremony like two years ago? Guess that doesn't matter I'll just be happy if it actually starts construction.

From the Review-journal this weekend, some residents of the John S Park neighborhood fight for a proposed height restriction in an area near downtown.
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_ho...s/6767346.html
Quote:
The proposed ordinance is a response to concerns that high-rises would ruin views, block sunlight and destroy the feel of the John S. Park neighborhood, a collection of 444 homes between Charleston and Oakey boulevards, east of Las Vegas Boulevard.

Passage of the ordinance would mark at least a partial retreat from the vision of a "Manhattanized" Las Vegas core that Mayor Oscar Goodman and other officials have for years championed as a key to revitalizing downtown
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