A Strip motel — with its pink elephant — now surrounded by fences

The pink elephant of the Diamond Inn Motel is no longer looking out on the Las Vegas Strip but instead sees fences surrounding the motel property, which county records indicate closed in September.

Business license records show the motel, which located across the street from Mandalay Bay casino-resort, closed on Sept. 29.

Building records also show many code violations some related to the electrical work on the property and an electric work permit was issued by Clark County in May. But the electrical contractor for that permit, Peter and Sons Electric Co., filed a cancellation letter for the permit with the county on Sept. 19 since the property owner was “unresponsive to proceed with work to be completed.”

The owner of the property is Sam Aldabbagh, who used to own the now closed strip club the Can Can Room.

Efforts to reach Aldabbagh directly for comment weren’t successful. But the Galliher Law Firm, which filed letters on behalf of Aldabbagh in response to the code violations, responded to a inquiry from the Las Vegas Review-Journal on the closure of the Diamond Inn and said its client has “no comment.”

Peter and Sons Electric Co. didn’t provide any information on the circumstances of the cancellation letter when asked by the Review-Journal.

“I’m saddened by the closure of The Diamond Inn. I really don’t have anything else to say,” Peter Ponce De Leon, managing member of Peter and Sons Electric Co. said in an email to the Review-Journal.

It’s unclear at this time what will happen to the pink elephant. There’s currently no indication that the motel is on the market for sale.

Multiple violations

Several code violations were found at Diamond Inn by the county involving the building, mechanical and plumbing during inspections in October 2022 and June 2023.

A Clark County Building Department report from the June inspection showed work done on the property didn’t have proper permits, exhaust fans were installed in place of windows on the second floor with exposed electrical wires as well as windows on the first and second floors blocked by plywood, creating unsafe ventilation conditions.

The report also stated the building was in overall decline.

“Disintegration of buildings and structures is evident and dangerous, due to lack of maintenance and multiple alterations without approved plans, permits and inspections,” the report stated.

Clark County spokesperson Erik Pappa said in an email to the Review-Journal that the property owner was made aware of the code violations shortly after the initial October inspection and Aldabbagh made “no effort to resolve the extensive non-compliant conditions and safety hazards.”

In a followup inspection in June, Pappa said the county saw no improvements and issued an order to disconnect electricity to the property on June 20. The power was shut off by June 26, but it was turned back on after an injunction was obtained by Aldabbagh’s attorney, he said.

The county reissued the disconnect order on July 10, which Aldabbagh appealed. Another hearing was held in August, and a hearing officer reaffirmed the county’s disconnect order on Sept. 25, four days before the business license showed the Diamond Inn closed.

Surrounding land

In the past two years, land directly to the north and south of Diamond Inn has sold.

An approximate 2.2-acre parcel directly south of the Diamond Inn sold in June 2022 for $12.8 million to an anonymous buyer. Now Clark County records show this land is a planned station for the Boring Company’s expansion of its Vegas Loop, which plans to add 81 stations and 68 miles of tunnels.

The Boring Company lists the address for the land, 4613 Las Vegas Blvd., as one its stops for expansion on its website. A design review use permit submitted in July 2022 for the land lists the Boring Company as the applicant.

Additionally in 2021 Clark County Department of Aviation spent $60.3 million to acquire 17.2 acres directly north of the Diamond Inn “to protect airport operations based on the location and likelihood that it would be developed in the near future.”

Contact Sean Hemmersmeier at shemmersmeier@reviewjournal.com. Follow @seanhemmers34 on X.