page_title: The Drew Las Vegas
section_title: Construction
hierarchical_section_title: The Drew Las Vegas / History / Construction
caption_attribution_description: English: Turnberry Place in Paradise, Nevada, USA. The three white towers, not including the new blue tower
context_page_description: The Drew Las Vegas is a hotel and casino under construction on the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada. It is located on the 24.5-acre site previously occupied by the El Rancho Hotel and Casino and the Algiers Hotel. Excluding the nearby Stratosphere observation tower, the Drew's 63-floor, 735-foot hotel building is the tallest building in Las Vegas and in the state.
  The project was announced as Fontainebleau Las Vegas in May 2005, with initial plans to begin construction by March 2006, and to have the resort opened by 2008. It was intended to be a sister property to the Fontainebleau Miami Beach hotel. Construction began in February 2007, but was stopped in 2009, when the project went into bankruptcy. The project, upon completion, was expected to include: a 95,000 sq ft casino, a 60,000 sq ft spa, 3,300-seat performing arts theater, 2,871 hotel rooms, 1,018 condominium units, 180,000 sq ft of retail space, 400,000 sq ft of indoor and outdoor conference space, nightclubs, and 24 restaurants and lounges. The building was designed by Carlos Zapata Studio with Bergman Walls Associates as the architect of record.
context_section_description: Turnberry West Construction began construction of the Fontainebleau Las Vegas in February 2007. In April 2007, Publishing and Broadcasting Limited purchased 19.6 percent of Fontainebleau Resorts for $250 million. Preparation work on the property was underway that month, although an official groundbreaking ceremony was not held. At that time, the project was expected to cost $2.8 billion, and was to include a 63-story tower with 3,889 hotel and condo hotel units, as well as a 100,000 sq ft (9,300 m²) casino. In June 2007, Fontainebleau Resorts secured approximately $4 billion from various financial institutions to pay off debts and to finish its projects, including the Fontainebleau Las Vegas, which was expected to open in fall 2009. At the time, Schaeffer predicted that less than one-third of the resort's revenues would come from its casino.
  The resort's parking garage was to stand seven stories, with the first two floors to be located underground. In July 2007, plans were approved to increase the garage from seven stories to 23 stories. In August 2007, a construction worker died after a 30-foot fall on the property. Several days later, a large concrete slab in the parking garage fell and caused slabs on two lower floors to collapse. No workers were injured or killed by the three large slabs.
  In October 2007, residents of Turnberry Place alleged that they were deceived by Turnberry, saying they were never notified of the increased size of the Fontainebleau's parking garage. Other residents were concerned about the impact of noise and pollutants from the new project. Soffer said Turnberry did a "respectful job" of building the Fontainebleau hotel tower away from Turnberry Place residents. Soffer also stated that the property was zoned for a hotel and casino, and said that residents knew such a project would ultimately be built on the property: "We're not going to buy a 20-acre property and leave it as a vacant lot. It's a property with proper zoning and nothing was ever promised. It's as simple as that. […] The bottom line is you can't please everyone." Turnberry Place residents planned to have a district judge rule on whether the Clark County Commission should have approved the garage re-design, which was alleged to be in violation of a county ordinance. The judge ruled in favor of the project, stating that the re-design was legally approved.
  In April 2008, Fontainebleau Resorts stated that the project was fully financed and that progress was continuing despite other local projects that had suffered financial problems, including Crown Las Vegas and the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. At the time, the project had $2.4 billion in debt. The company planned to put the Fontainebleau's 1,018 condominium units on sale in September 2008. Between $700 million and $900 million in presales was expected to come from the sales. Condominiums were to range between 540 sq ft (50 m²) to 900 sq ft (84 m²); 17 units would be built on each floor, in the center of the tower. A total of 6,000 people were expected to be employed at Fontainebleau upon its opening. The casino was to feature 1,700 slot machines and 125 table games. The tower was topped out in November 2008.
caption: Fontainebleau and Turnberry Place in 2010
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