In Las Vegas and a plan has reportedly been launched that could see the site of the former Moulin Rouge Hotel transformed into a $1.6 billion mixed-use development complete with a 400-room hotel and a 25,000 sq ft casino.

Diminutive deadline:

According to a Friday report from the Las Vegas Review-Journal newspaper, a local entity known as Las Vegas Moulin Rouge LLC has been given until tomorrow to deposit some $9.5 million into an escrow account in order to officially purchase the land for the master-planned venue before embarking on construction.

Grand plans:

The newspaper reported that the developer subsequently intends to spend approximately $400 million to inaugurate the first stage of its new Moulin Rouge Hotel and Casino in the Nevada city’s West Las Vegas neighborhood. It purportedly explained that it envisions this initial phase will also feature a pair of restaurants, around 40,000 sq ft of exhibition and convention space, a pool-side nightclub and a sportsbook alongside a 1,200-seat showroom.

Heritage honored:

Opened in 1955 at a cost of $3.5 million, the original Moulin Rouge Hotel was the first desegregated hotel and casino in Las Vegas and the scheme reportedly calls for this heritage to be commemorated via the opening of a 5,000 sq ft museum as well as a 200-seat jazz center. All of this is to purportedly be complemented by in excess of 25,000 sq ft of spa and retail facilities in addition to Venetian-style suites in a high-rise tower intended to serve as a visible landmark.

Ensuing enlargement:

If all goes to plan, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that the developer subsequently intends to spend around $1.2 million more to buy adjacent parcels of land in order to increase the size of the property’s gaming, retail and entertainment venues while furthermore adding a 15-story office tower and a 12,000-seat arena.

International interest:

Gene Collins, a principal for Las Vegas Moulin Rouge LLC and a former President for the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NACCP), reportedly told the newspaper that the first phase of the project will incorporate the neon sign that once adorned the front of the Moulin Rouge Hotel in addition to parts of the original building’s façade and is destined to create thousands of direct and indirect local jobs.

Collins reportedly stated…

“When people see the Moulin Rouge is being developed, all around the world, people will want to come to Las Vegas. It’s not a Westside thing, it’s an international thing.”