White Cross Market building in Las Vegas up for sale

After unveiling plans to overhaul a former diner and drugstore building on Las Vegas Boulevard, the owner has put the decades-old property up for sale.

The shuttered former home of Vickie’s Diner and White Cross Market, owned by Los Angeles real estate investor Jonathan Kermani, is on the market for $13 million, as seen on listing site LoopNet.

Located between the Strip and downtown, the boarded-up, fenced-off property has For Sale signage out front.

The sales effort marks the latest chapter for a 1950s-era property that was home to a longtime drugstore and a series of popular eateries, and whose current owner drew up plans to renovate and expand the building.

Kermani, who purchased the site in 2020, did not respond to requests for comment on the listing.

The parcel, 1700 Las Vegas Blvd. South, at Oakey Boulevard, spans just under 1.5 acres. Like other older properties in the valley, the building drew some very Vegas celebrities over the decades. According to reports, customers included the Rat Pack, Liberace and Elvis Presley.

White Cross Drugs opened there in 1955 during Las Vegas’ Mafia days. Its product line, as seen in a 1964 ad in the Review-Journal, included a weight-loss candy called Ayds.

“Pounds off the easy way with Ayds,” the advertisement said for the now-unfortunately named former product.

The drugstore closed in 2012. White Cross Market debuted in the building in 2013, offering craft beer and giving downtown-area residents a rare neighborhood grocery store with fresh produce. But sales were low, the Review-Journal reported, and the market closed a few years after it opened.

The building also featured popular eateries, including, most recently, Vickie’s Diner, which served chicken-fried steak, burgers, liver and onions, and more.

Vickie’s closed in August 2020, the month before Kermani took ownership of the building, and reopened last year in Commercial Center, on Sahara Avenue just east of the Strip.

Kermani, who bought the property for almost $4.3 million, told the Review-Journal in spring 2021 he expected to start construction that September on his roughly $20 million redevelopment venture.

He aimed to renovate, partially demolish and expand the building, and provided a leasing brochure that featured renderings of a sleek, modern-looking complex.

Kermani aimed to fill the place with bars, restaurants and possibly some office tenants, he said at the time.

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