The abandoned St. Regis hotel tower at Venetian is the stuff of Las Vegas legend.
Construction of the once-named St. Regis Residences at Venetian stalled in 2008 when the economy went south. A decade ago, Sheldon Adelson—bajillionaire and former CEO of Las Vegas Sands—claimed the tower would be completed, eventually. Then, there was a whole lot of not much.
Recently, we’re hearing chatter the project is ramping up again. This time, not as a condo, but a boutique hotel, possibly Tao Hotel Las Vegas. There are signs it’s happening, don’t shoot the messenger.
The St. Regis story is long and winding and mostly sad.
Every so often the scaffolding of the structure gets a new wrap, as it did in 2022.
Most visitors don’t even know the unfinished tower is up there, unless the Sun is at just the right angle.
We are often asked about the project, as well as the two cranes on the building. The cranes have been on the roof since the resort renovated its pool complex in 2018. That project is long completed, but the cranes stayed.
Our construction friends always said you don’t keep $3 million in cranes up there for no reason. The cranes are owned by Venetian, temporary cranes are usually leased.
We’re confident we know the reason the cranes are still there. The new owners of Venetian, Apollo Funds are working with Tao Group to build a hotel-within-a-hotel. Think Four Seasons at Mandalay Bay or Nobu at Caesars Entertainment or Nomad at Park MGM (but successful).
As mentioned, our money’s on the name being Tao Hotel Las Vegas. There’s even Tao Hotel e-mail list you can sign up for to stay abreast of all the news.
Telling is the fact Tao Group announced Tao Hotel Orlando in 2022, and is expected to open in 2025. That’s right. Tao is getting into the hotel business, and Las Vegas could very well be next. Rockwell Group, a well-known entity in Las Vegas, is the designer for the Florida project.
Tao Co-CEO Noah Tepperberg said, “A hotel was the natural evolution for us.” Maybe that should’ve been plural.
Beyond the lingering suspicion sparked by the cranes (there are rules about how long cranes can sit up there without use or activity), our friend @JamesinLasVegas has been keeping an eye on Venetian and he spoke with a contractor involved with some of the work being done.
He was told they removed the existing large marquee because it would “block the Strip view from the future rooms of the new tower.”
The contractor said the tower project will start in mid-2025, and will offer high-end hotel rooms.
How is Tao involved? We’ve heard from two sources they’ll be the operator of this new offering.
Tao Group is a huge nightlife and hospitality company that acquired Hakkasan in 2021. Tao Group Hospitality was, in turn, acquired by Mohari Hospitality for $550 million in 2023.
The folks behind the Sphere at Venetian, Sphere Entertainment Co. (formerly Madison Square Garden Entertainment) owned a 67% stake in Tao before selling that stake to Mohari Hospitality. Tao Group has a multi-year agreement with MSG Entertainment to provide consulting and marketing services to the Sphere at Venetian.
Which is all to say it’s no great leap to speculate Tao Hotel Las Vegas could be a thing.
Honestly, we don’t care all that much about who’s name is on the damn thing (at one time it was supposed to be the Marco Polo Tower at Venetian, with 1,100 rooms planned), we just want it to be done.
Venetian, Apollo and Tao have all been mum about the project, but the visible signs of activity are confirmation something is afoot. This wasn’t just a matter of a screen upgrade or two. The changes have intention and those intentions seem to be setting the stage for another hotel tower at Venetian.
Barring any twists or turns in the economy, of course. What could possibly go wrong?
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