I’m going to need you,” recounts Grutman, whose celebrity-favored venues in Miami include the Goodtime Hotel, the nightclub LIV, and restaurants Komodo, Papi Steak, Strawberry Moon, Swan, Gekkō and The Key Club. I’m going to get the Fontainebleau Las Vegas back.

When Soffer found out Fontainebleau Las Vegas was back on, one of his first calls was to Miami-based hospitality entrepreneur and restaurateur David Grutman, who was moments away from signing a long-anticipated deal with another Las Vegas casino-resort. In the end, though, “everything just sort of lined up.” “You could be the best businessman in the world, but if you don’t have good timing …” says Soffer of the project’s long dormancy. 13, 2023, ahead of Fontainebleau Miami’s 70th anniversary, in 2024. Plans were unveiled, construction started up again and the 3,644-room resort will finally open Dec. Several owners came and went before Soffer and Fontainebleau Development, in partnership with Koch Real Estate Investments, reacquired the property in 2021. Many believed it would never be finished and eventually torn down. The unfinished edifice was regarded as an eyesore by those who encountered it day in and day out. It stood as a costly reminder of the Great Recession, which hit Southern Nevada hard. What was planned as the tallest tower in the state of Nevada, at 67 stories, remained in limbo for 12 years, 70 percent complete.

By the following year, banks collapsed, funding dried up, lawsuits were filed and construction stopped. Intended to be the sister property of the legendary Fontainebleau Miami Beach hotel - the southeast stomping grounds of Rat Pack legends like Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr, regarded as America’s first mega-resort - the Fontainebleau Las Vegas broke ground under Soffer’s direction in 2007. He acquired the land in 2000.Ī Remade Las Vegas Gears Up for F1 Weekend Amid Weather and Price Controversies and Canceled Practice Session “It could be a very good book or movie,” Soffer says of the dramatic sequence of events surrounding one of the greatest comeback stories in the history of the hospitality business. The cinematic quality of the long journey to open the doors of Fontainebleau Las Vegas is not lost on Jeff Soffer, the resort’s chairman and CEO.

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