New details emerge on big Rio renovation, Fontainebleau opening

Top executives of the off-Strip Rio and the towering Fontainebleau due to open in December gave new details Wednesday on what they have planned for their respective properties.

The Rio in August will start a two-phase $350 million renovation of the 2,500-suite resort, which opened in 1990, refreshing all rooms, the casino, many of its food-and-beverage outlets and its pool deck.

Fontainebleau officials, meanwhile, provided new details about the resort, including plans for entertainment residencies in a 3,800-seat theater, the payment of 7,100 employees on a weekly basis instead of biweekly and a partnership with the nearby Las Vegas Convention Center.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board, in separate unanimous votes, recommended approvals of gaming licenses for top executives of the Rio and north Strip Fontainebleau’s 3,644-room resort.

The board, meeting in Carson City, recommended approval of the suitability of New York-based Dreamscape Companies Inc. executives Eric Birnbaum and Thomas Ellis for the Rio and a preliminary finding of suitability for Bowtie Hospitality LLC executives Jeffrey Soffer and Brett Mufson for the Fontainebleau.

Rio acquired from Caesars

The Rio casino operation, managed by Caesars Entertainment Inc., was acquired from Caesars by Dreamscape in December 2019 for $516 million with an existing Caesars management agreement ending Oct. 1. That is when Dreamscape will take over operations if licensing is approved.

Construction of the Fontainebleau began in 2007 but stopped in 2009 during the Great Recession. It has since had other owners but was taken over by original developer Soffer in February 2021 and is now due to open in December.

Final approval of the licenses are expected to be considered by the Nevada Gaming Commission on July 27.

In their appearances before the Control Board, the executives provided new details on their respective projects.

Birnbaum told board members the shutdowns that occurred in the COVID-19 outbreak helped Dreamscape because it gave them the opportunity to fully form its redevelopment strategy during down time.

“We certainly didn’t have as eventful a journey as the gentleman at the Fontainebleau had, but it certainly was an interesting journey,” Birnbaum said. “COVID really allowed us to implement our business plan and hire individuals to really steer the ship and get us into the position we’re currently in today.”

$350 million redevelopment

The time enabled Birnbaum and his associates to affirm its $350 million redevelopment package for the Rio. He said work would begin refurbishing all of the 1,500 suites in the resort’s Ipanema Tower, one floor at a time so that the property can remain open during the work. He said he expects three floors at a time to be closed — the one where the work will be done and the floors above and below it to minimize noise for guests.

With hotel rooms, Birnbaum said the entire casino floor would be refreshed as well as the 150,000-square-foot pool area and “a host of” food outlets. The company will redesign the guest check-in process.

The first phase, he said, would take about 18 months. Then, renovation is scheduled for the 1,000-suite Masquerade Tower and five or six food outlets there.

Birnbaum said the company would follow the trend of eliminating buffets — one of the Rio’s popular attractions — in favor of developing a food court concept.

Eventually, he said, a new loyalty program would be rolled out and the property will have an affiliation with Hyatt Hotels, which will give the Rio the advantage of being able to market to that company’s loyalty card membership and strengthen convention business.

Dreamscape’s property lease-back agreement with Caesars ends in December, enabling the company either to renew that agreement or make different plans.

Current Rio employees will be asked to sign on as Dreamscape workers, and the company plans to market the property to both tourists and locals.

Fontainebleau details

Fontainebleau’s details were outlined by Soffer and Mufson, who said the company is investing a total of $3.9 billion on the 67-story property, including $215 million with historically disadvantaged businesses.

The construction site has between 3,600 and 3,800 workers each day. When complete, the resort will have 3,644 rooms with 421 suites and in the fall, the company will begin hiring 7,100 employees split between full time and part time and through partnerships with affiliated companies. Of the 247 executives already hired, 56 percent are women, and 35 percent are people of color. Mufson said the company sought “intense diverse backgrounds of leadership.”

The bottom three floors will include a ground-floor casino covering 150,000 square feet — relatively large by Las Vegas standards, and equal to the size of the Aria casino.

The Fontainebleau casino is targeting 1,300 slot machines and 128 table games. It will have a 13,480-square-foot sports book and an 18,350-square-foot high-limit gaming area with 3,200 square feet dedicated to domestic high-limit space, and six private gaming salons.

The second floor will feature a retail promenade with a 56,000-square-foot spa and nail salon and a 14,000-square-foot fitness center.

“Part of our culture and infrastructure is to lean into the health and wellness facilities that we have,” Mufson said. “That’s why our fitness center and spa are abnormally large.”

He said Fontainebleau will have 36 first-to-market food concepts split half and half between fine dining and casual fare with food, chefs and partners from around the globe.

The third-floor pool deck will have 6 acres of pools with seven different pool concepts. Poolside gaming will be offered.

New meeting space

Mufson said Fontainebleau will have 550,000 square feet of meeting space with 11,000 square feet for exhibits, 57 meeting and breakout rooms and four ballrooms, including one that is the second-largest columnless facility in the market at 106,000 square feet.

Also, Mufson said, “You could throw a baseball from our front entrance to” the Las Vegas Convention Center’s West Hall, and he expects to collaborate with the LVCVA on group meetings, speaker series and car events.

The 3,800-seat theater will have an arena-sized stage suitable for concerts and residencies.

While Fontainebleau executives were recommended for licensing approval, the property itself is expected to be considered in November.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.