It’s an occupational hazard in business reporting to see only the promise of success but Las Vegas’ #1 newspaper went overboard with the DJs spinning another golden oldie. In this case, it’s the dubious assertion that the "second Strip" on Harmon Avenue is "progressing swiftly and surely."
Pardon my apparent cynicism, but this platter has been on and off the turntable for a decade now. Most recently, it was touted in the Inside Gaming column in September … 2005.
If anything, there’s even less on Harmon between Paradise and Las Vegas Boulevard than when I arrived here, eight-plus years ago. What’s more, if you look at the handy-dandy chart that accompanies the "everything is better than ever" story, you’ll notice that two of the 12 projects are "on hold" and two others are "TBA," including the Edge/W Group acreage, a project that is — by all indications — on life support and is reportedly being shopped around (Steve Wynn was a rumored buyer, a couple of months back).
Also, most of the projects that are going forward are condo towers, meaning that there’s not going to be a heckuva lot going on at street level and, thusly, not much reason for tourists to venture down Harmon. There’s a reason the Hard Rock gets a well-below-average amount of its revenue from gambling.
Also, Morgans Hotel Group appears to be talking out of both sides of its mouth, telling Wall Street investors it’s shopping the bulk of its Paradise Bay Club acreage and yet spinning the R-J that it will integrate the Paradise Bay acreage into future Hard Rock expansion. So has Morgans changed its mind about the sale or is it (as a real estate source told the Business Press) having a hard time finding a buyer for the land, which has miniscule street frontage? Morgans gets off easy again.
The big boys sleep in: The R-J isn’t the only newspaper in town that’s lying down on the job. Yesterday, Assemblyman Bob Beers held a 105-minute session with approximately 140 dealers (many of them not from Wynn Las Vegas). Although cameramen were present from News Three and Fox 5, neither of the dailies deigned to send a reporter. Best not to even think of bad news like labor unrest. Might scare the tourists, y’know. Can’t have that, can we?
