Photo Credit: @FormerlyWTC
Formerly The Drew, Las Vegas , the Fountainbeau hotel chain has once again repurchased the same property, it had started to build in 2007. The grand property was designed by Carlos Zapata Studio with Bergman Walls and Associates as the executive architect, featuring 95,000 sq ft (8,800 m2) casino, 2,871 hotel rooms, and 1,018 condo hotel units.
Unfortunately, in 2008 all things went to hell, due to the Great Recession from 2007 - 2009. The financier ( a group of banks ) bailed out of their agreement with Fountainbeau ; of course Fountainbeau sued the group. With that, construction slowed to an eventual halt, with everything put on hold in 2009 ; not long after, the property filed for bankruptcy.
A year later, Carl Icahn scooped it up with 70% of the resort completed. Carl is famous for purchasing properties with some kind of hardship and reselling for a handsome profit. Carl is the founder and controlling shareholder of Icahn Enterprises, located in New York. He has a lot of interest in Las Vegas. Everyone has either heard of or dealt with him personally. All I can say, you can certainly learn from his financing expertise. He sat on the property until 2017, where he sold it to Witkoff Group, who joined partnership with Marriott International ( believe it or not, the original founders of Marriott was Mormon missionary, under John Willard Marriott, Sr.)
Steve Witkoff ( the Witkoff Group) renamed the hotel “The Drew”, after his son, Andrew Witkoff, who unfortunately passed away in 2011.
The Drew Hotel looked promising to finish in 2022, however, due to COVID restrictions, construction once again stopped. Again, Fountainbeau bought it back with a new investor, capitalizing on their past investment. Today the resort property is in full throttle, expecting a completion date of 2023.
If you follow Scott Rouben with Vital Vegas, he recently wrote about the new features of this amazing resort. It’s going to a grand display, featuring a pool oasis, sure to give The Resorts, Las Vegas, a run for their money. Of course, Fountainbeau will display luxury throughout its property and technically, becoming the newest built property on the Las Vegas Strip. As a long time VegasLover, I’m looking forward to staying at Fountainbeau. Hopefully all goes well, and we can welcome the Fountainbeau to the VegasLovers Group on Twitter.
See YOU in Vegas !
Vegas Reviews ( aka — the VegasLovers Group ).
