Issues for Clooney's Las Ramblas
March 29, 2006 | 7:48
am
The rumors have started again about the future of the planned $3 billion high rise condo/hotel being backed by among others actor George Clooney. Clooney reportedly invested $10 million of his own money in Las Ramblas. But according to the Review-Journal, the sales office for Las Ramblas is no longer taking reservations, and the paper goes on to note:"Two sources in the high-rise condo industry said the 25 acre site...is under contract to be purchased by Edge Resorts Group, a partner in the W. Hotel being developed next to Las Ramblas."
But a spokesperson for Las Ramblas (woken up by the Buffet this morning, sorry) says that the sales office, in fact, is still selling condos and denies the R-J report. Since, the cheapest unit is around $500,000 I will not be bothering to go to the sales office on Convention Center Drive to find out the answer myself.
awakened not woken.
Posted by: Boyd | March 29, 2006 at 11:31 AM
Cooney has invested $10 million of the $3 billion -- roughly 1/3 of 1 percent -- and they're called "Clooney's Las Ramblas"?
Isn't that a bit silly?
Posted by: Anonymous | March 29, 2006 at 11:44 AM
What is the deal with that?
It just seems so out there to me -- like someone really spinning to make a dollar. Makes you wonder what the long range plans really are.
Posted by: blue turtle | March 29, 2006 at 01:35 PM
Once Vegas was run by mobsters; now its being run by Hollywood. Vegas may once have been a place of gangsters and cutting-your-fingers-off-if-you-didn't-pay-your casino-dues, but at least it had pizazz and style. Now it seems a bland and ordinary place with really expensive bar drinks. I guess nothing stays the same.
Posted by: Anonymous | March 29, 2006 at 03:03 PM
This would be the second Related Group project to get cancelled. First was Icon Las Vegas - I live next door to a project just about to start in Fort Lauderdale - Icon Las Olas - I wonder if that one will go up now..
Posted by: Don - Fort Lauderdale | March 29, 2006 at 05:57 PM
Las Ramblas is typical spin. Here are the facts:
1)Las Ramblas will NEVER happen. Land and construction costs are too expensive.
2)Las Ramblas is a horrible idea. The owners are quoted as saying men have to wear jackets and women have to wear dresses. People come to Las Vegas to relax. Their bosses back home make them dress up.
3) George Clooney has not invested a dime in Las Ramblas. He simply attaches his name and cashes a check.
4)It makes sense that W Hotels is buying the property. W Hotels are an established, popular chain of hotels.
5)If you want a high-end condo, don't put a deposit down on Las Ramblas. You're wasting your money. Buy at MGM or Panorama or Trump or someplace that's actually going to be built.
Posted by: Buck Futter | March 29, 2006 at 07:02 PM
This project isn't going anywhere under any circumstances (in my opinion). The nightclub sitting on the site has a lease for another year. The condo market is very soft (Hard Rock tossing in the towel, Curve just announced they have to halt sales ... the next in a long line of projects that are failing).
Plus ... Clooney's idea of a casino with a dress code simply won't fly. Casinos love and need the walk-in traffic. People may not be cool or rich enough to stay at the Hard Rock, but they check it out and drop a few bucks. As long as you don't smell too bad and have some clothes on, casinos want (and need) your money. It all adds up.
This was possibly a huge part of the hype to get Clooney the Oscar. He got to create a huge buzz by continuing the Vegas rub he got from Oceans 11, got on Larry King talking about how he'll be giving away 25% of the casino revenue to starving children in Africa (or some such charity), and generally used to create a buzz far bigger than his movie could on its own.
The property isn't even available yet, the location is so-so, and the concept stunk to begin with. But it generated tens of millions in free PR for Clooney when he most needed it. Crazy ... like a fox.
Posted by: Ted "Loves Las Vegas" Newkirk | March 29, 2006 at 07:18 PM
Hollywood would do well to remember Planet Hollywood - just because you are a celeb does not mean it will do well.
Posted by: james smith | March 29, 2006 at 07:28 PM
iT WILL BE BUILT AND IT WILL INVOLVED CLOONEY, ALSO BRAD PITTAND MANYOTHER INVESTORS.
AND IT WILL SUCCEED.
AND ITS MAIN ATTRACTION WILL BE DRESS CODE....LADIES IN DRESSES AND MEN IN SPORT COATS..VERY CLASSY
THEY DONT WANT CHEAP DRIFTERS AND
CLASSLESS FOLKS
GEORGE HAS JUST ANNOUNCED THAT THEY WILL BE FILMING OCEANS 13
IN JULY IN VEGAS...SO HE IS IN AND COMMITTED AND BY THE WAY ITS NOT 3 BILLION....ITS 800 MILLION
Posted by: JERRY HENNEN | March 29, 2006 at 09:49 PM
dumb
Posted by: me | March 30, 2006 at 08:44 AM
buy MGM condos and you wont go wrong...
Posted by: ESAMILIN | March 30, 2006 at 01:28 PM
Wanna make a buck in Vegas real estate? Forget off-Strip highrise condos.
Buy SFR's out in the burbs. There will always be a need to house the grunts required to keep the city ticking. That means steady rent, steady property appreciation and a cyclical 'hot' market to churn out serious profits every few years.
Posted by: Vegas Insider | April 10, 2006 at 08:08 PM