Fontainebleau Las Vegas opened to the public shortly before midnight on December 13, 2023. Its blue-glass tower had stood unfinished for years on the north Strip. The opening brought a long-delayed Las Vegas project into operation under a name already associated with the separate Fontainebleau Miami Beach hotel, which opened in 1954.
An unfinished tower
Construction was under way in 2007, but financing troubles interrupted the project. Tutor Perini’s 2009 annual report, describing its plumbing subsidiary’s involvement, records work stopping and the project shutting down by June 2009. The developer entered Chapter 11 that month. A tall, largely built structure did not mean an operating hotel or casino.
The Drew proposal
The same filing describes the January 2010 bankruptcy auction won by an Icahn company. Years later, Witkoff and Marriott announced a different plan: The Drew Las Vegas, with EDITION and JW Marriott hotels. Their February 2018 announcement anticipated a late-2020 debut. It remained a development name and forecast, rather than a casino that welcomed guests under that name.
The return to Fontainebleau
In February 2021, Koch Real Estate Investments announced that it had acquired the unfinished property in partnership with Fontainebleau Development. Jeffrey Soffer’s company returned to the project. A November ceremony marked the renewed push to complete the resort under the Fontainebleau name; it was not the start of all construction on an empty site.
The public opening
The operator’s announcement after the December 2023 celebrations records the first public guests arriving on December 13. The resort combined hotel accommodation, gaming, convention space, restaurants and entertainment within a tall, integrated development beside the Convention Center’s West Hall. The December 14 announcement date should not be mistaken for the public opening date.
The completed resort
The operating resort remains at 2777 South Las Vegas Boulevard in October 2026. Its current presentation includes rooms, dining, entertainment and the Hall of Excellence. These are later chapters in an open resort, distinct from the abandoned opening forecasts of its construction years. The retained historical May 2026 photograph shows the completed lobby and registration area, not the tower exterior or an earlier casino.
Read the full history ↗ Sources and context
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Operator history: the Fontainebleau brand began at the separate Miami Beach hotel in 1954.
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Tutor Perini, 2009 Form 10-K, Note 9, “Fontainebleau Matter,” printed page 87: construction shutdown and Chapter 11 in June 2009; January 2010 bankruptcy auction. The February closing was still a forecast in this account.
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December 2023 retrospective timeline: project financing and construction in June 2007, followed by bankruptcy in June 2009.
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Marriott and Witkoff announcement, February 12, 2018: proposed EDITION and JW Marriott hotels under The Drew name, with a forecast opening in late 2020. Its earlier project address differs from today’s resort address.
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Koch announcement, February 11, 2021: acquisition of the unfinished resort at 2777 South Las Vegas Boulevard, in partnership with Fontainebleau Development.
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Developer announcement reproduced November 9, 2021: a ceremonial groundbreaking at the already partly built resort. This marks renewed completion work, rather than all construction beginning that day.
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Developer announcement issued December 14, 2023: first public guests arrived on December 13, shortly before midnight. Describes the vertically integrated resort and its location beside the Convention Center’s West Hall.
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Operator homepage, checked October 20, 2026: continuing hotel, dining and entertainment offerings, including the Hall of Excellence.
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Current mapped resort location and operator address, checked October 20, 2026. The representative point does not identify an entrance, a historical building footprint or a walking route.
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Yelderberry’s own-work photograph, May 13, 2026, published on Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 4.0. The file shows the hotel interior; it is not an exterior tower photograph.
The Drew was an announced development plan, not a separately operating predecessor casino. Earlier predicted opening dates are not treated as actual openings.
The current resort is distinct from Fontainebleau Miami Beach and from the former Riviera across the street. Earlier El Rancho and Algiers grounds require a separately qualified site sequence; this marker does not map their former buildings.
The 2021 construction ceremony marked renewed completion work, not the first construction on the site.
The historical photograph is a dated interior lobby view; the main illustration shows the tower and podium. The map marks a representative resort building area, not the exact photographed standing position, entrance or full grounds.
