Tilman Fertitta files plans for 43-story Strip resort

Tilman Fertitta is looking to build big on the Strip.

The Houston billionaire has filed plans for a 43-story, 2,420-room hotel-casino on a plot of real estate he purchased this year for $270 million.

The upscale project, on roughly 6 acres at the southeast corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Harmon Avenue, calls for restaurants, convention space, a spa, wedding chapel, auto showroom and a theater with around 2,500 seats, Clark County records show.

It would also include suites and villas, VIP salons and a bar and lounge for high-limit gamblers, building plans indicate.

The Clark County Commission is scheduled to consider the project plans Oct. 19, Nancy Amundsen, director of the county’s department of comprehensive planning, confirmed Wednesday.

Fertitta owns the Golden Nugget in downtown Las Vegas, but a towering project on the Strip would give him a big presence in the heart of America’s casino capital, albeit with plenty of supersized competition nearby.

Sources previously told the Review-Journal that Fertitta was looking to build an upscale hotel on Las Vegas Boulevard, where he controls a corner plot with heavy traffic out front as well as megaresorts, condo towers and retail nearby.

“We have acquired a truly unique piece of real estate and are actively exploring this development opportunity,” Jeff Cantwell, executive vice president of development at the business mogul’s namesake Fertitta Entertainment, said in a statement Wednesday. “While we continue to go through the review and planning process, no firm decision has yet been made concerning our future plans.”

Fertitta, 65, owns a big portfolio of restaurants, hotels and other enterprises, including the Houston Rockets basketball team. He has an estimated net worth of $7.7 billion, according to Forbes magazine.

Fertitta completed his real estate purchase at Las Vegas Boulevard and Harmon in June, buying the spread for more than $43 million per acre. The sale included a cluster of souvenir shops and other retail space, a Tex-Mex restaurant building and a Travelodge motel property.

By July, the motel’s parking lot had been blocked off with chain-link fencing, and a sign in the door of the lobby declared, “We had a good run. 59+ years of service. This Travelodge is closed permanently.”

Fertitta isn’t the only one with plans for this stretch of the Strip, as other projects are already in the works.

Clark County commissioners in August approved plans by New York investment firm Gindi Capital for a new three-story retail complex just south of Fertitta’s property.

Gindi’s project would span more than 300,000 square feet and include retail shops, restaurants and outdoor entertainment space.

Also, developer Brett Torino and New York’s Flag Luxury Group are building a four-story retail complex at the southwest corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Harmon.

Ocean Prime, a seafood and steakhouse chain, announced plans to invest nearly $20 million in a new location there. Its 400-plus-seat restaurant will span more than 14,500 square feet with a nearly 2,500-square-foot rooftop terrace, and it’s scheduled to open in spring 2023, according to a news release.

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