SLS could spur Strip’s northern tip

The SLS Las Vegas is no longer an island. New neighbors are moving into the old neighborhood at the northern end of the Strip.

The old Sahara’s location at a somewhat desolate intersection at Las Vegas Boulevard and Sahara Avenue was a disadvantage, said SBE Entertainment CEO Sam Nazarian.

Nazarian said the reopening will revitalize the location. Also, the property has additional security measures to protect resort patrons.

“We always planned on being a destination, and the area is now building up around us,” he said.

When it closed, the Sahara’s nearest neighbors on three sides were vacant lots and a boarded-up stand-alone casino building. The nearby shuttered Fontainebleau Las Vegas project loomed over the old resort, a ghost of the bust.

Now the area is showing signs of life. Just north of the SLS a large Walgreen’s store and pharmacy is taking shape. Across the Strip, on 33 now-vacant acres, MGM Resorts International plans an open-air, year-round concert venue.

Just south along the Strip, Malaysia-based Genting Berhad will soon start construction of the $4 billion Resorts World Las Vegas, and Australian billionaire James Packer bought majority ownership in the old new New Frontier site with plans to build a new hotel-casino there.

Even across Paradise Road behind the SLS the former Las Vegas Hilton/LVH Las Vegas has been given new life through its purchase by Westgate Resorts.

The Fontainebleau still casts a shadow over the area, and the old Wet ‘n Wild water park site adjacent to the SLS on the south remains a vacant lot, but at least a developer has proposed a sports arena there.

“A lot has changed,” Nazarian said. “We’re in a great spot.”