Downtown Grand

Downtown Grand
Downtown Grand is located in Downtown Las Vegas
Downtown Grand
Downtown Grand is located in Nevada
Downtown Grand
Location Las Vegas, Nevada
Address 206 N 3rd Street
Opening date1964
No. of rooms1,124
Total gaming space24,085 sq ft (2,237.6 m2)
Notable restaurantsFreedom Beat
Triple George Grill
Sidebar
Hogs and Heifers Saloon
Casino typeLand-based
OwnerCIM Group
Operating license holderFifth Street Gaming
Previous namesLady Luck
Renovated in1985, 2006–13, 2019–20
Websitedowntowngrand.com

The Downtown Grand, formerly the Lady Luck, is a hotel and casino in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada, owned by CIM Group and operated by Fifth Street Gaming. The Downtown Grand is the centerpiece of Downtown3rd, a new neighborhood and entertainment district in downtown Las Vegas.

Facility

Set on 6.27 acres (2.54 ha) at 3rd Street and East Ogden Avenue, the Downtown Grand initially had two hotel towers: to the east, the 18-story Casino Tower built in 1985 with 295 rooms, and to the west, the 25-story Grand Tower with 334 rooms. The East Tower is connected to the ground level casino.[citation needed] The eight-story Gallery Tower was completed in 2020, for a total of 1,124 rooms.[1] The property is served by a four-level parking garage and features several restaurants and entertainment venues along 3rd Street. These establishments include Freedom Beat, Triple George Grill, Sidebar, and Hogs and Heifers Saloon.

History

Honest John's (1961–1968)

  • The original business was a news stand and barber shop located in Ogden Square Shopping Center. Honest John's became a full-time casino in 1964, operated by Andy Tompkins, who would eventually become the founder of Lady Luck.[2]

Lady Luck (1968–2006)

  • 1968: Former Honest John's reopens as Lady Luck. Casino building expanded in 1979.[3]
  • Tower 1 (17 floors) opened in 1986; Tower 2 (24 floors) opened in 1989. [4]
  • In 2000 the Lady Luck was acquired by Isle of Capri Casinos.[5]
  • In June 2002 it was purchased by Steadfast AMX who turned two floors into timeshares.
  • On May 13, 2005 it was purchased by the Henry Brent Company for $24 million.[6]
  • On May 16, 2005 plans were announced for a major renovation and expansion of the property to begin early in 2006.

Closing and renovations (2006–13)

On February 11, 2006 the hotel and casino, but not the timeshares, closed for remodeling; the property was expected to be closed for nine to twelve months but financing collapsed.

On June 12, 2007 the casino was acquired by CIM Group for over $100 million.[7]

Workers tearing down portions of the casino for renovation in October 2012.

In July 2008 the city was investigating rezoning the nearby land containing the transit center to unrestricted gaming. With the transit center relocated, the land would be available for development.[citation needed] Mayor Oscar Goodman applauded the attempt to re-invigorate the plans to renovate the Lady Luck: "For the past several years I have seen a rotting corpse. The Lady Luck structure has been a blight."[8]

As of July 2009, Goodman once again said in a council meeting that "The Lady Luck is a disaster," and then called the skeletal structure a "carcass". Las Vegas city leaders wanted CIM to raze the unfinished structure at Fourth Street and Stewart Avenue and do a better job of keeping sidewalks and landscaping clean near the site. CIM had until late December 2009 to begin a $100 million renovation of the Lady Luck; otherwise, it would potentially lose an offer from the city which would hand over land around the proposed nearby Mob Museum.[9]

On July 23, 2009, some demolition work started on a 4-story concrete building adjacent to the main resort. This work was completed in accordance with the city's request for CIM to raze the condemned structure.[10]

On March 15, 2010, CIM made an agreement with city officials to have the renovations completed by December 31, 2011. There was the potential that the hotel/casino would reopen in 2012, five years after its originally scheduled reopening in 2007.[11]

In October 2011, plans were announced to rename the Lady Luck as the Downtown Grand.[citation needed] The property underwent a $100 million renovation.[12] Construction of Downtown3rd on the former site of the Lady Luck began in the fall of 2011. The new Downtown Grand was scheduled to open in late 2013,[13] and the remainder of Downtown3rd was expected to be completed in late 2014.

Downtown Grand (2013–present)

Downtown Grand in 2015

Downtown Grand opened on October 27, 2013.[14] It is a boutique hotel and casino with 24,085 sq ft (2,237.6 m2) of casino space,[15] 629 newly remodeled hotel rooms, 9 bars & restaurants and a 35,000 square foot urban rooftop pool retreat called Citrus.[16]

In January 2019, construction began on a 495-room hotel tower.[17] The eight-story[1] tower, located on the east side of the Downtown Grand property, was topped off in February 2020.[18] The addition, known as the Gallery Tower, opened on September 22, 2020, bringing the total room count to 1,124. It includes various augmented reality art pieces.[19][20][21]

References

  1. ^ a b "CIM Group Completes Gallery Tower". Business Wire. September 15, 2020. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  2. ^ "Honest John's Casino, 304 Ogden at 3rd, Las Vegas, c. 1964". Jun 4, 2015. Retrieved Nov 9, 2022.
  3. ^ "Lady Luck Casino, North 3rd & Ogden, Las Vegas, c. 1979". Oct 5, 2018. Retrieved Nov 9, 2022.
  4. ^ "Fremont Street". Retrieved Nov 9, 2022.
  5. ^ UNLV. "Isle of Capri Company Profile". Archived from the original on July 13, 2012. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  6. ^ UNLV (September 9, 2005). "CEO's NFL Ties Would Affect Wagers". Retrieved Dec 10, 2008.
  7. ^ "City mulls downtown land sale at cut rate". Las Vegas Sun. July 2, 2008.
  8. ^ Spillman, Benjamin (July 3, 2008). "Land-value raise may lift Lady Luck". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on July 9, 2008.
  9. ^ Spillman, Benjamin (July 5, 2009). "Mayor calls Lady Luck casino 'carcass'". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on July 8, 2009.
  10. ^ "Demolition begins at downtown's Lady Luck". Las Vegas Review-Journal. July 23, 2009. Archived from the original on July 25, 2009.
  11. ^ "Downtown hopes for upturn, New casino owners bring money, optimism to help area rebound". Las Vegas Business Press. March 30, 2010. Retrieved December 1, 2018 – via NewsLibrary.
  12. ^ Sieroty, Chris (May 20, 2013). "Las Vegas' Downtown Grand to hire 800". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  13. ^ Vincent, Roger (2013-11-12). "Makeover of Lady Luck casino in downtown Las Vegas completed". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Archived from the original on April 19, 2014. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
  14. ^ Chris Sieroty (October 27, 2013). "Downtown Las Vegas' newest resort opens". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 2013-10-28.
  15. ^ "Listing of Financial Statements Square Footage (2017 data)". Nevada Gaming Control Board. March 6, 2018. p. 4. Archived from the original on December 25, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  16. ^ "Las Vegas Rooftop Pool & Pool Deck: Downtown Grand Hotel". Downtown Grand. 2015-04-08. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
  17. ^ Prince, Todd (January 7, 2019). "Downtown Grand to build new hotel tower in Las Vegas". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
  18. ^ Schulz, Bailey (February 19, 2020). "Downtown Grand tops off third hotel tower". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  19. ^ Bracelin, Jason (August 31, 2020). "Downtown Grand announces artists, artwork for new Gallery Tower". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  20. ^ "Downtown Grand opens new hotel tower". KVVU. September 22, 2020. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  21. ^ "Downtown Grand to open Gallery Tower with augmented reality rooms Tuesday". KTNV. September 22, 2020. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
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