Fontainebleau Developer Acquires $2.2 Billion Loan to Complete Long-Stalled Resort Project
LAS VEGAS, NV – The developer of the Fontainebleau Hotel and Casino announced this week that they have acquired a $2.2 billion construction loan to finally complete the project following a protracted – and extremely bumpy – development history.
The long-gestating Fontainebleau project – located on the northern part of the famed Las Vegas Strip and originally scheduled to open in 2009 – finally resumed construction in November 2021 after it was re-acquired by its original developer after changing hands several times over the years.
Jeffrey Soffer, chairman and CEO of Florida-based Fontainebleau Development, set out to finish what he began 12 years ago after he put the brakes on the resort due to lack of funding, despite it already being 75 percent completed at the time.
Fontainebleau Development had originally begun building the resort in 2007, but it was indefinitely halted two years later by the recession, forcing the project into bankruptcy. In 2010, Icahn NV Gaming Acquisition LLC purchased the Fontainebleau for $150 million, and then sold it off to developer Steve Witkoff for $600 million in 2017. Witkoff originally envisioned a 2022 completion date; however, that was derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
From there, the Fontainebleau sat unfinished for years until Fontainebleau Development re-acquired the project and resumed construction in 2021; currently, the resort is now expected to be finished in late 2023, following Soffer’s securement this week of $2.2 billion in new funding.
When the resort is completed, it will be operated by the company’s subsidiary, Bowtie Hospitality LLC.
The Fontainebleau will mostly adhere to the original vision that was laid out for it back when the project was first announced and will consist of a 67-story tower containing 3,780 hotel rooms and suites, 550,000 square feet of convention and meeting space, a casino, restaurants, retail, health and wellness spaces, and other amenities. The resort is expected to provide approximately 6,000 full-time jobs, which will greatly add to Las Vegas’ economy.
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