The Clark County Zoning Commission granted unanimous approval on Wednesday for a new hotel, retail, and entertainment complex to be developed on 10 of the 26 acres where the Riviera once stood on the Las Vegas Strip.
The development, spearheaded by local developer Brett Torino and his BPS Partners LLC, will feature two 600-foot towers and a 439-foot thrill ride. The site, currently a parking lot south of Fontainebleau along Elvis Presley Boulevard, is being sold by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) to Torino for $125 million. The towers are set to include a 750-room nongaming hotel and 426 condos, transforming the area into a mixed-use attraction.
Additionally, a 3,300-seat domed theater was approved for the easternmost five acres of the property. There are reports of Fontainebleau’s interest in purchasing this parcel for $112.5 million.
The development will provide approximately 1,500 on-site parking spaces. This figure represents a significant reduction from the typically mandated 3,000 spaces, a decision previously approved due to multiple considerations, including the site’s proximity to a station for the Boring Co.’s Las Vegas Loop underground transportation system.
“I would just say this is fantastic news for the north end of the Strip, so I’m very excited,” Commission Chairman Tick Segerblom stated following the vote, as quoted by the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “I look forward to working with you and the architects in the coming years.”
While no specifics regarding the timeline or budget for the construction were disclosed during the meeting, Torino is contractually obligated to begin construction by 2033.
The LVCVA originally purchased the 26-acre site, where the Riviera Hotel & Casino formerly stood, for $182.5 million in 2015. The majority of the land has since been used to construct the 1.4 million-square-foot West Hall addition to the Las Vegas Convention Center, a project that cost an estimated $1 billion. The Riviera was imploded in 2016, making it the last casino resort on the Las Vegas Strip to face such a fate until the upcoming demolition of the Tropicana on October 9.
