ZZZ - GMG - VEGAS INC 2011-2014

May 23, 2011

VEGAS INC Magazine - Latest Las Vegas business news, features and commentaries about gaming, tourism, real estate and more

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IN BUSINESS THE ECONOMY NORTH END OF STRIP’S GLITZ REDUCED TO FAINT GLIMMER By Amanda Finnegan staff writer In its prime, the north end of the Strip—the home to casinos such as the Thunderbird, Silver Slipper and Stardust—defined Vegas glitz. This stretch of the Strip was the stamping grounds for the likes of the Rat Pack, Elizabeth Taylor and Liberace. Today’s snapshot is much different. Empty plots of land mark half- completed dreams, where old hotels were razed to make room for billion- dollar luxury resorts that never materialized. Other parcels are harsh, cold reminders of the effects of the recession: billion-dollar resorts that Data | Voice | Audio | Visual | Security were started but never finished, standing today as headstones for a once- robust economy that all but died. And now the 58-year-old Sahara has shut its doors, leaving tourists little reason to venture past Steve Wynn’s shimmering twin towers. An area marked for its early growth has become a glimmer of what it once was and a symbol of what Las Vegas could have been. But the recession isn’t all to blame. CB Commercial and Residential Let KO set-up your POS, CCTV, or VoIP network. KO’s team is comprised of IT professionals with years of experience. We also provide customer service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 702.291.1015 or 1.800.590.0416 www.KoNevada.com Fisher & Phillips Value Atlanta Charlotte Chicago Cleveland Columbia Dallas Denver Fort Lauderdale Houston Irvine Kansas City Many law firms talk about value as if it’s a new concept. At Fisher & Phillips LLP, our commitment to value dates back to the founding of the firm nearly 70 years ago. So how do we provide this value? We do only one thing: Represent employers in labor and employment matters. You benefit from our deep and broad expertise in the area of the law we know best. Our attorneys treat your legal problems as business problems, and help you avoid legal disputes.We are responsive, we are economical, and we reward our associates for quality work, not just for billable hours. We are national and local, with attorneys in 25 offices around the U.S. For more on the Fisher & Phillips Value Statement, go to www.laborlawyers.com/value. Fisher & Phillips LLP attorneys at law Solutions atWork® www.laborlawyers.com 14 Las Vegas 3800 Howard Hughes Parkway Suite 950 Las Vegas, NV 89169 phone: (702) 252-3131 toll free: (866) 424-2168 fax: (702) 252-7411 Los Angeles Louisville New England New Jersey New Orleans Orlando Philadelphia Phoenix Portland San Diego San Francisco Tampa Washington, DC Richard Ellis Executive Vice President John Knott said the shift began in the 1990s when the corporate owner of Circus Circus began sending guests to the south end of the Strip to its Excalibur hotel when the family-oriented resort was full, rather than the other north-end hotels it had partnered with in the past. “All of a sudden they didn’t need these other hotels and it was like the north end went dark in one night,” Knott said. “It crippled that end of the Strip because they had to rebuild their business base. The development was all happening on the south end, so that was an added challenge.” A few years later, the construction boom was in full swing on the south end. From the early 1990s until December with the opening of Cosmopolitan, the Strip played host to an opening gala for a new casino every few years, recharging the Strip’s energy and seducing more tourists to town. During that period, companies began scooping up land in the north end at the height of the market, taking sticks of dynamite to aging properties with plans for bigger and better resorts. It seemed to signal a possible rebirth, but was halted in almost an instant. But twhere some might see a wasteland of shelved projects, others see a land of opportunity. It’s an opportunity for Las Vegas to pause and figure out what it really needs. And when those stalled projects breathe life, it will push other Strip properties to reinvent themselves again, Knott said. “What will happen when the north end of the Strip starts to redevelop, then the market will improve for everyone involved in it,” Knott said. “That will be the new activity level and the new best thing in Las Vegas. The north end of the Strip is an opportunity, but it’s opportunity in the future.” National First–Tier Rankings Employment Law – Management Labor Law – Management | 23 MAY 2011 | CHRIS MORRIS

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