Las Vegas Welcomes Its 2nd Priciest and Tallest Casino: The Fontainebleau

The Fontainebleau casino resort opened its doors in style on Thursday morning. The grand opening was a VIP-only affair, with invitations sent to a select few. The casino resort is now the second most expensive in Las Vegas, and the tallest building in Nevada.

The Fontainebleau towers over the city at 224 meters (737 feet), with 68 floors and 3,644 hotel rooms. The project cost a whopping $3.7 billion, only behind the Resorts World casino resort ($4.3 billion) in Las Vegas. The Fontainebleau has a long and troubled history, starting from 2007 and facing many setbacks, including changes in ownership.

The Saga of The Fontainebleau

The original owner of the project, billionaire Jeffrey Soffer, started construction in 2007, hoping to finish by October 2009. By November 2008, the building was 70% done, with the roof completed.

But then, the global economic crisis hit hard. Jeffrey’s lenders (Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase) stopped funding the project in 2009, forcing him to file for bankruptcy.

Jeffrey Soffer and his wife Elle Macpherson

Soffer sold the unfinished building (worth $2.8 billion at the time) for a measly $150 million to another billionaire, Carl Icahn. Icahn held on to the property from 2009 to 2017 without resuming construction, and then sold it for $600 million.

After that, Marriott International bought a stake in the casino resort, and announced a new opening date for early 2022. But fate had other plans. In March 2018, a fire broke out in the building, and then the pandemic struck, putting the project on hold again.

The story finally came full circle in 2021, when Jeffrey Soffer bought back the business. This time, he managed to finish construction in a year and a half. So, the casino resort that started at $2.8 billion over 16 years, dropped to $150 million, and then rose to $3.7 billion, is finally open for business.

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