Dream Las Vegas Casino Hotel Ready to Break Ground on $550M Strip Development

Posted on: July 7, 2022, 10:17h. 

Last updated on: July 7, 2022, 11:25h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

The Dream Las Vegas Hotel & Casino project adjacent to Harry Reid International Airport plans to break ground on the more than half billion-dollar undertaking tomorrow, July 8.

Dream Las Vegas casino resort airport Strip
An artist’s rendering of Dream Las Vegas, a boutique casino and hotel located on the Strip’s southern end near Mandalay Bay and the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign. The resort will cost an estimated $550 million to bring to life. (Image: Dream Hotel Group)

The Dream Hotel Group, based in New York City, currently operates four properties in Manhattan. The hotelier also runs Dream-branded hotels in Miami Beach, Hollywood, and Nashville.

The group’s luxury portfolio wouldn’t be complete without a Las Vegas presence, which prompted the firm in 2020 into buying 5.25 acres of undeveloped land just south of Russell Road along Las Vegas Boulevard, next to Harry Reid International Airport. The land purchase was made with California-headquartered Shopoff Realty Investments, the latter being the financier and eventual owner of Dream Las Vegas.

After two years of delay, Dream and Shopoff execs will hold a ceremonial groundbreaking tomorrow on the $550 million build. Once complete, Dream Las Vegas will be the closest Strip casino to the airport.

Southern Strip Expansion

The south end of the Las Vegas Strip is amid a boom, largely because of the NFL Raiders setting up their home just across I-15 from Mandalay Bay. The $1.9 billion Allegiant Stadium has developers optimistic for the future of the area.

Shopoff Realty and The Dream Group are betting big that their boutique casino hotel will be able to compete with the Strip’s larger integrated resorts operated by the town’s biggest players, specifically MGM Resorts.

Dream Las Vegas isn’t taking a page out of the MGM playbook to compete with nearby Mandalay Bay, Luxor, and Excalibur. While each of those properties offers thousands of guestrooms, expansive casino spaces, and dozens of restaurants and bars, Dream Las Vegas will cater to the crowd seeking a more personal experience.

Once finished, expected to arrive some time in 2024, Dream Las Vegas will offer just 531 hotel rooms. For comparison’s sake, Mandalay Bay alone comes with more than 3,200 occupancies.

Dream Las Vegas will be unlike anything else currently available on the Las Vegas Strip, offering a new go-to destination for locals and out-of-town pleasure seekers alike,” Dream Hotel Group CEO Jay Stein said in a statement.

Dream’s blueprint includes a 19-story hotel, boutique gaming space, several high-end restaurants and watering holes, a rooftop pool, and configurable meeting spaces.

Airport Concerns

The Dream will butt up against Harry Reid International, separated by only a metal fence. That’s why soon after Shopoff Realty acquired the roughly five-acre site from Lily Funds in February 2020 for $21 million, objections were raised regarding the developer’s plans. That’s because of the land’s close proximity to the airport and an access road used for executive charter flights.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) opposed the casino project in a scathing summary of the proposal.

The project is near an area of the airport used for high-level individuals, special operations, and military aircraft parking. The resort would increase the risk to both the aircraft and the passengers due to active shooters and the ability to throw things over the fence intended to cause harm,” the TSA summarized its opinion.

Harry Reid International’s major carriers, including Southwest, Delta, American, and United, all opposed the project too.

But the Federal Aviation Administration (FFA) eventually concluded that the casino would not jeopardize air operations. That approval came after The Dream Group redesigned the project to include security walls to prevent items from being thrown toward the airport’s grounds. The hotel tower was also reconfigured to “dramatically reduce” sightlines to the airport’s runways.

Following the FAA approval, Clark County signed off last fall on Dream Las Vegas in a 6-1 vote.