NGCB recommends approval for Hard Rock’s Mirage purchase; operator reveals new plans
Roughly a year after Hard Rock International announced plans to buy the Mirage and build a new guitar-shaped property across the Las Vegas skyline, the operator has received a key regulatory recommendation.
Indeed, at a Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) meeting, the Seminole Tribe-owned Hard Rock brand received a recommendation for approval for its $1.08bn purchase of the property.
That leaves the Nevada Gaming Commission to make its final decision on 22 December, although the NGCB’s recommendation is deemed a “major step,” according to the Las Vegas Review Journal.
After buying the property from MGM Resorts International, Hard Rock plans to first close The Mirage and then begin a rebuilding process in either late 2023 or 2024. An opening date is then slated for either 2025 or 2026.
Hard Rock CEO and President Jim Allen disclosed updated plans for the property – which will transform the way Las Vegas looks from above – at the NGCB meeting.
According to Allen, as per the Review Journal, the property will increase its number of rooms from 3,044 rooms to 3,640.
And the property will almost double in size from 94,000 square feet to 174,000 square feet, with convention centre space also growing, and the number of slot machines and table games hugely rising.
The property’s renovation will inevitably mean some famous features, such as the Volcano, will no longer be around. But Allen and co are confident the presence of a huge guitar-shaped property in Las Vegas will more than make up for that.
Hard Rock has since released a statement clarifying that it will not be closing the Mirage.
Hard Rock International won Land-Based Operator of the Year at the Global Gaming Awards Las Vegas 2022.
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