Virgin Hotels Buys Hard Rock Las Vegas
Date: March 2018
Location: Paradise Road, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Name: Hard Rock Hotel & Casino/ to re-open as Virgin Hotel in 2019
No. of Keys: 1504 Chambers, Grand Chamber Suites and Penthouse Suites; a 60,000 square foot, fully-renovated casino, multiple pools over five acres, world-class restaurants, lounges and bars, including new nightlife venues and the brand’s flagship space, the Commons Club, as well as numerous meeting and convention spaces.
Seller: Brookfield-managed real estate fund
Buyer: Virgin Hotels, headed up by Raul Leal, CEO, in partnership with a group led by Juniper Capital Partners and Fengate Real Asset Investments along with their partners Dream, Cowie Capital Partners, and other private investors.
“Las Vegas has long held a special place in my heart,” said Sir Richard Branson, Founder of the Virgin Group. “Virgin Atlantic and Virgin America have enjoyed flying to Las Vegas for years and I’ve always known that Virgin Hotels could thrive there as well. I’m really looking forward to painting the town Virgin red.”
The property will continue full service operations under the Hard Rock flag until it opens as a Virgin Hotels hotel.
Guest rooms, restaurants and public spaces will undergo a face lift, expected to cost in the hundreds of millions, with the final product being a showcase of Virgin’s signature sleek and stylish design with an eclectic mix of social spaces.
“Our partnership is extremely proud to be investing in the Las Vegas market with an amazing brand like Virgin Hotels,” said Partner and new Property CEO, Richard “Boz” Bosworth. “We couldn’t be more passionate about the project and this partnership, and look forward to the exciting journey ahead.”
Fengate is managing its investment on behalf of the Laborers’ International Union of North America’s (LiUNA) Central and Eastern Canada Pension Fund.
“LiUNA is pleased with our strong working team behind this strategic investment, and we are very proud that the highly-skilled brothers and sisters of LiUNA will be a part of building this extraordinary new Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas,” said Joseph Mancinelli, LiUNA International Vice President and Regional Manager for Central and Eastern Canada.
THPT Comment: After their recent announcement of the new hotel in Edinburgh, we expected the next new one would be in Europe…but this Vegas deal makes sense.
First Seen: PR newswire