Historic Westside hotel project gets a new name, new look
The developer of the casino-resort proposed for the Historic Westside has changed the project’s name and may do it again.
The project proposed for the northwest intersection of Jackson Avenue and F Street, originally called Harlem Nights, is now called Westside in new renderings.
Project consultant Lisa Mayo-DeRiso said the new name was chosen by developer Shlomo Meiri, and the resort’s interior design is still expected to be inspired by the Harlem neighborhood in New York City during the 1920s and ’30s.
The project is going through the land entitlement process with the city of Las Vegas. The name of the development is still in its preliminary stages and could be changed in the future, Mayo-DeRiso said, as no market studies have been done on the updated Westside name.
“Our goal is still to create a marketable product that makes money,” she said.
The name isn’t the only change for Westside since its original development plans.
In April it was first proposed for the resort to be 60 stories high, but it was later reduced to 40 floors. The height was reduced again to its current proposal of 34 stories after the Federal Aviation Administration conducted a study on how tall a building can be on the property without causing disruptions to aviation operations.
The development team also has conducted several community meetings on the Historic Westside to get reactions from the residents of the area and to emphasize the developer’s viewpoint that the project can revitalize the area, Mayo-DeRiso said.
She said the reaction from the community has improved since the project was first proposed, but there are still some people who think it isn’t in character for the area.
“For projects like this there will always be people that like it, people who are lukewarm about it and people that don’t like it at all,” Mayo-DeRiso said.
She said the project is set to go in front of the Las Vegas Planning Commission at its Nov. 14 meeting and could go in front of the Las Vegas City Council at a meeting in December.
No update on fire
The developer also has dealt with a fire that destroyed the vacant building on the project site — which previously housed the Tokyo Casino and before that the New Town Tavern.
The fire on the property started on Oct. 15 and took about two hours to put out. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, according to the Las Vegas Fire Department.
Contact Sean Hemmersmeier at shemmersmeier@reviewjournal.com. Follow @seanhemmers34 on X.
