The implosion of the Tropicana hotel-casino could mark the last teardown of that type of property from Las Vegas’ early Rat Pack heyday, as the gambling capital makes way for the next era of development, including a new $1.5 billion stadium housing baseball’s former Oakland A’s.
Analysts note that hotel-casino development will remain very much front and center as Las Vegas looks to serve its now burgeoning tourism industry after decades of ups and downs, and as the region seeks to compete with the fast-elevating popularity of apps that allow users to place sports bets without setting foot in so-called Sin City.
Opened in 1957 and closed in April, the Tropicana was developed by Miami-based businessman Ben Jafee and was designed in the style of South Beach hotels of the late 1950s. With the help of about 2,000 pounds of explosives touched off by wired charges, the two-tower, 23-story structure came tumbling down in the early morning hours Wednesday in a cloud of dust, in less than a minute.
“The Tropicana Las Vegas was one of the original pioneers of the Strip, setting the stage for the vibrant, larger-than-life entertainment destination we know and love today,” Bally’s Chairman Soo Kim said in a company statement ahead of the demolition of his company’s vintage property, set to be replaced by a ballpark-anchored mixed-use venue with retail and hotel-casino components.
“It’s fitting that this iconic site now represents the future of Las Vegas as we look forward to welcoming Major League Baseball, the Athletics and an exciting new entertainment complex,” he said.
Several hours ahead of the demolition, roads were closed as police patrolled the vicinity to keep onlookers out of the immediate implosion zone. Many of the thousands of local spectators viewed the historic razing from nearby hotel rooms booked weeks in advance, often at premium prices. Millions more were expected to view the implosion through live online video feeds offered by Bally’s and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
To minimize traffic, environmental and other disruptions, the Tropicana was brought down at 2:30 a.m. Las Vegas time after Bally’s and its development partners staged a pre-razing show with 555 lighted drones and a fireworks display, as seen in the video provided to CoStar News by Bally's. The implosion was carried out by GGG Demolition and Controlled Demolition Inc., the latter of which oversaw several of the 15 implosions of vintage Las Vegas hotel-casinos over the past 30 years dating back to the 1993 razing of the Dunes, on the site that now houses Bellagio.
More hotel demand ahead
Analysts and Las Vegas officials have said The Tropicana implosion is one of the last vintage Vegas Strip hotel-casino demolitions as that property type has been replaced over the years.
“Never say never in Las Vegas, but the probability we see the same number of demolitions in the next 20 years as the past 20 years is unlikely,” said Michael Petrivelli, director of market analytics for CoStar Group in Nevada and Utah.
Still, the city’s Harry Reid International Airport had a record 57.6 million passengers in 2023, and Clark County officials expect that number to exceed 65 million annually within the next few years, spurring plans to build a supplemental regional airport about 30 miles south of the current one. “Air travel is now the primary mode of transportation to Las Vegas, and the city will eventually need hotel rooms to accommodate visitation growth,” Petrivelli said.
Emmy Hise, CoStar Group’s senior director of hospitality analytics, noted that a total of 4,600 hotel rooms were removed from the Vegas Strip inventory by this year’s closings of the Tropicana and the Mirage, the latter of which closed in July and is being converted by its new owner into a guitar-shaped Hard Rock Hotel.
“This is the most significant decline in hotel rooms in the past decade,” Hise said. “Demolitions and closures like this don’t happen often. It will be years before the Las Vegas hotel supply returns to its previous levels.”
In the meantime, many of the region’s hotels under construction are primarily limited-service properties in areas to the east and south of the Vegas Strip, including Henderson and the area near the airport. But demand on the Strip has generally remained steady in recent years after the opening of several large mega-resorts, and a growing contingent of sports fans and concertgoers will need places to sleep, shop and dine.
The city in the past year witnessed the arrival of a new annual Formula One auto race on the Strip and the debut of attractions like The Sphere, a high-tech arena resembling an eyeball. After the development of new venues to accommodate the arrival of the NFL and NHL, developers have other mixed-use projects in various proposal stages to accommodate potential new teams from the NBA and Major League Soccer — after executives of both leagues said Las Vegas is a top candidate for future franchise expansion.
Some icons remain
Right now, those projects are not expected to replace venues like the Strip’s first hotel-casino, The Flamingo. That property opened in 1946 in what is now the center of the famed gambling corridor and is still a draw for significant business after numerous expansions and renovations.
Rather than making reservations for the wrecking ball or its high-tech equivalent, Flamingo owner Caesars Entertainment recently announced plans for a significant overhaul to begin next year and slated to include new dining and entertainment venues.
Other older hotels and retail strip centers, if not as vintage as the iconic properties of the past, are still expected to be purchased and cleared away by developers as Las Vegas looks to add attractions particularly on and near the Strip. Petrivelli said regional brokers and investors are paying particular attention to the fate of the 1.4 million-square-foot Howard Hughes Center office park.
That property sits on 68 acres and went into court-ordered receivership this past summer after former owner Blackstone defaulted on its $325 million loan.
“Roughly 50% of the office park is available for lease as the location has fallen out of favor with many tenants due to its proximity to the bustling Strip and the traffic congestion that comes with it,” Petrivelli said. “Potential buyers may view it as a tear-down redevelopment play and could try to capitalize on its location next to The Sphere.”