Lucky Dragon Hotel and Casino

Lucky Dragon Hotel and Casino^[1] is an Asian-themed boutique hotel and locals casino located on 2.5 acres (1.0 ha) of land at 300 West Sahara Avenue, near the Las Vegas Strip, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Lucky Dragon is adjacent to the Allure Las Vegas high-rise condominium, opened in 2008 by developer Andrew Fonfa. The resort's property was initially planned as the site of a second Allure tower, which was cancelled due to poor economic conditions. While selling units in the first tower, Fonfa decided to build a hotel and casino on the adjacent site. The Lucky Dragon was announced in February 2012, and groundbreaking began in May 2015. The resort had a soft opening on November 19, 2016. An official grand opening was held on December 3, 2016.

The Lucky Dragon is heavily inspired by Asian concepts in an effort to appeal to Asian customers, whom are expected to be the resort's primary customer base. With 203 rooms and a 27,500 sq ft (2,550 m²) casino, the Lucky Dragon is considered small in comparison to nearby competitors on the Las Vegas Strip.

History

The resort is located on 2.5 acres (1.0 ha) of land at 300 West Sahara Avenue, a block west of the northern end of the Las Vegas Strip, an area that had become known for a number of vacant lots, older resorts, and failed projects. The property is located between the Golden Steer restaurant and the Allure Las Vegas condominium high-rise.^[2] The Allure property, opened in early 2008,^[3] was owned by developer Andrew Fonfa, who proposed the Lucky Dragon. The site was originally planned for a new Allure twin tower, but those plans were scrapped because of poor sales caused by the Great Recession, and because of an oversupply of condominium high-rises on the Las Vegas Strip.^[2] To help sell units in the first Allure tower, Fonfa said that in 2008, "We realized we were going to need cash buyers. We went to LA and San Francisco and Vancouver and San Jose and put ads in all the Chinese newspapers in those communities. And we were very pleased with what came back, which was over 100 units sold to Chinese buyers." At that point, Fonfa then devised an idea to build a hotel and casino on the property originally planned for the second tower.^[3]

The Lucky Dragon project was announced in February 2012, as a 10-story hotel tower with 201 rooms and an 18,900 sq ft (1,760 m²) casino, with 478 slot machines and a 446-space parking garage. An Asian theme was chosen for the project as it was being financed by Chinese investors.^[2] Groundbreaking began in May 2015, with the pouring of the resort's foundation. At that time, the hotel had been decreased to nine stories, while the casino was expected to contain two stories.^[4] After the hotel's lower portion was complete, construction crews added an additional floor every week.^[5] The hotel tower was topped out on September 11, 2015.^[5][6] The casino and parking garage were still under construction at that time, with the resort expected to open in summer 2016.^[5] The project was being financed by funds through the United States federal government's EB-5 program.^[5][7]

On November 16, 2015, Andrew Fonfa and development partner William Weidner requested approval for tax increment financing from the Las Vegas Redevelopment Agency, in order to receive a bank loan to continue construction on the project, which had already raised $60 million through the EB-5 program.^[7] On November 18, 2015, the Las Vegas City Council rejected Fonfa and Weidner's request for $25 million in subsidies to help finance the $139 million project, which was expected to open in August 2016. Approximately 3,600 jobs associated with the ongoing project were lost due to the decision.^[8][9] In May 2016, it was announced that the project had received full financing from Fonfa and Weidner's families.^[10][11][12] Construction was approximately 70 percent complete at that time,^[10] with the resort expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2016.^[11]

The Lucky Dragon was planned to be the first Las Vegas resort to offer an "authentic Asian lifestyle experience."^[10] David Jacoby, chief operating officer for the resort, said, "This whole place has been very specifically feng shui'd, from the color patterns, to the carpets, to where the seats are, to where the cash is. There will be no fourth floor in the hotel - that's a superstition similar to what we have in the United States with the number 13. There's no number 4 anywhere on the property. Our phone numbers don't have a 4 in it. People in the front of the house of the resort will speak Mandarin, Cantonese and other Asian dialects. Signage is in Chinese first, English second. What we're trying to do is build an authentic cultural experience from the ground-up for Asian clientele, both locally and regionally throughout the United States."^[11] Fonfa described the Lucky Dragon as a locals casino that will primarily rely on local Asian residents as its clientele, as well as Asian tourists from China and California.^[3] Las Vegas Weekly wrote that the Lucky Dragon, with its large focus on Asian customers, "might be the most specifically focused casino project in the history of Las Vegas."^[3]

On September 6, 2016, company officials announced that the resort would open on December 3, 2016.^[13] Lucky Dragon was expected to employ more than 800 people.^[14] The Lucky Dragon's centerpiece is a 1.25 ton dragon chandelier that hangs over a bar. Work on the chandelier began in May 2015, with nearly 800 people working on it until its completion. Installation of the chandelier was completed in November 2016, after two weeks.^[15][16] The resort had a soft opening at 8:00 p.m. on November 19, 2016, with its official grand opening still scheduled for December 3.^[17][18][19] The Lucky Dragon opened with 203 hotel rooms,^[17] and a 4,500 sq ft (420 m²) spa,^[10] while the 27,500 sq ft (2,550 m²) casino offers popular Asian games such as baccarat, pai gow, and sic bo.^[20] The casino features 37 table games and 300 slot machines.^[20][21] It was the first new hotel-casino to open in Las Vegas since The Cosmopolitan in 2010.^[17][22] The resort – considered small in comparison to nearby competitors – is connected to the adjacent Allure tower.^[3]

The official grand opening took place on the afternoon of December 3, 2016, and was accompanied by a ribbon-cutting ceremony, costumed dancers dressed as Chinese lions and a dragon, and firecrackers.^[23][24][25]

Restaurants

The Lucky Dragon features five restaurants:^[20][26]

• Dragon's Alley, a lantern-lit space designed as a night market, and featuring a show kitchen known as Jewel Kitchen that extends onto the casino floor, allowing players to watch as the food is prepared.
• Pearl's Ocean, a dim sum restaurant.
• Phoenix, a 60-seat fine-dining restaurant.
• Cha Garden, a 24-hour, indoor/outdoor tea garden and lounge, extending from the hotel lobby to the pool area.
• Bao Now, offering grab-and-go foods.

Each restaurant offers only authentic Chinese food, which company officials expect to be the resort's primary advantage to bringing in customers.^[22][27] In August 2016, officials announced a contest to create a name for the night market restaurant – the resort's last unnamed eatery – with the winner receiving a weekend stay package.^[28][29][30]

References

External links

• Official website

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