Another lavish multibillion-dollar Las Vegas Strip resort project has suffered a recession-related setback: On June 9, the $3.1-billion Fontainebleau Las Vegas, which is about 70% complete, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Construction of the 63-story hotel-casino-retail complex is now halted.
Scheduled to open in October, the project is being built by Fontainebleau Resorts LLC, an investment group led by Miami-based developer Jeffery Soffer, who also owns the famed Morris Lapidus Fontainebleau hotel in Miami Beach. It so far has invested over $2 billion in the Las Vegas project.