Fire hits site of planned Harlem-themed resort on Historic Westside
A fire on Sunday tore through a historic vacant building on a lot where the Harlem Nights high-rise resort-casino is proposed to be developed on the Historic Westside.
Las Vegas firefighters responded to a fire at the vacant building on the Harlem Nights property — at the northwest corner of Jackson Avenue and F Street — just past 6 p.m. Sunday and crews worked until 8 p.m. to extinguish the fire, according to the Las Vegas Fire Department. The department said the fire caused no injuries but did enough damage to the building for it to be considered a “total loss.”
No cause of the fire has been identified as of Wednesday afternoon, and the Las Vegas Fire Department wouldn’t commit to a timeline on when a cause could be identified.
The site used to house the Tokyo Casino and before that it was the New Town Tavern, which at one time was a popular gaming and entertainment establishment that rivaled the famed Moulin Rouge hotel-casino in the 1950s.
The Las Vegas Fire Department said the site wasn’t considered a historic landmark, but it was eligible to be added to the local historical register.
Lisa Mayo-DeRiso, a project consultant for Harlem Nights, said the developer has requested a full investigation into the fire and was disappointed by the damage it caused.
The fire wasn’t a huge setback for the Harlem Nights project because the developer planned to remove the building, according to Mayo-DeRiso. But she said the removal of the building was to be done with dignity because of the building’s history. Now the timeline to remove the remnants should be sped up because it’s an eyesore for the Historic Westside, she said.
A community meeting to discuss the Harlem Nights project is scheduled for Oct. 23 at 5:30 p.m. at the West Las Vegas Library.
The Harlem Nights project originally called for a 60-story tower that would have restaurants, gaming options, a theater and hotel and residential units. Now the project is slated to be 34 stories because a study from the Federal Aviation Administration saying any structure taller than that could cause disruptions to aviation operations, Mayo-DeRiso said.
The fire didn’t set back the development of the resort as it’s still going through the land-use entitlement process with Las Vegas, Mayo-DeRiso said. She said the Harlem Nights development plan should be discussed at a Planning Commission meeting on Nov. 14 and then at a City Council meeting in December if the Planning Commission meeting goes well.
Contact Sean Hemmersmeier at shemmersmeier@reviewjournal.com. Follow @seanhemmers34 on X.
