Fontainebleau letter signage gets initial tryout on Strip tower

A month after developer Jeffrey Soffer unveiled plans to open the long-unfinished Fontainebleau, signage for the resort has appeared near the top of the north Strip tower.

Portions of Fontainebleau Las Vegas’ “fb” logo can be seen on the exterior of the skyscraper in the same area as it is featured in a rendering of the project.

The developers are testing signage, and for now, it’s not being permanently installed, according to a representative for owner Fontainebleau Development.

The 67-story hotel-casino is slated to open in 2023 — long after Soffer, who reacquired the property early this year, initially started the project.

Soffer and former Las Vegas casino executive Glenn Schaeffer unveiled plans for the Fontainebleau in 2005 and broke ground in 2007. But the real estate market soon crashed, the economy tanked, and the Fontainebleau went bankrupt in 2009.

Billionaire Carl Icahn acquired it in 2010 for around $150 million and sold it in 2017 for $600 million to developer Steve Witkoff and partners.

In early 2018, Witkoff unveiled the resort’s new name, Drew Las Vegas, and later said it would debut in 2022.

But in March 2020, he suspended construction as Las Vegas rapidly shut down over fears of the coronavirus outbreak.

Soffer, owner of Florida-based Fontainebleau Development, reacquired the property in February in partnership with the real estate wing of Kansas conglomerate Koch Industries.

He announced the resort’s name change and expected opening date on Nov. 9.

Contact Eli Segall at esegall@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342. Follow @eli_segall on Twitter.