New York Observer - February 6, 2006
Viva Las Wenner! Rolling Stone Is Planning Casino
By Gabriel Sherman
On the weekend of Jan. 28, Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner traveled to Las Vegas to work on plans for a Rolling Stone Hotel and Casino.
Mr. Wenner's magazine has a long history with the city. On assignment there in November 1971, Rolling Stone writer Hunter S. Thompson announced the defeat of the counterculture: From the city, Thompson wrote, "you can almost see the high-water mark-the place where the wave finally broke and rolled back."
Nearly 35 years after Thompson's visit, according to a source with knowledge of the deal, the Wenner Media chief is negotiating with real-estate developers to license his magazine's name to an estimated $500 million development with luxury hotel rooms, a casino and a music venue that would host "the biggest and most important music acts."
"They're in the early planning stages.... It's going to be sort of along the lines of the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino," the source said. That rock 'n' roll-themed outpost of the Hard Rock Cafe chain opened in 1995.
A Las Vegas real-estate source said that Mr. Wenner's hotel would be located on Harmon Avenue, the east-west corridor where new developments are sprouting. The Rolling Stone, tentatively scheduled for completion in 2008, would share the neighborhood with the new Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino opening later this year; the $1.7 billion W Hotel and Casino; George Clooney's planned $3 billion, Philippe Starck-designed Las Ramblas development-and the 11-year-old Hard Rock.
Beyond the similarity in their trademark fonts and their geezers-with-Les Pauls sensibilities, the Hard Rock and the Rolling Stone would be direct competitors for high-profile concerts in Las Vegas. The Hard Rock has hosted the likes of Bon Jovi, Green Day and David Bowie; Mr. Wenner's hotel would aim for major acts as well.
"It will be acoustically perfect," the source familiar with the plan said. "Instead of people in the twilight of their career, in theory, they'll book everyone from Kanye West to U2. This won't be someplace you'll get $15 stadium seating. This is about big money and big acts."
A spokesperson for Wenner Media declined to comment about the Las Vegas project.
But concert halls aside, what does a long-running rock-music magazine have to do with destination gambling? Will there be a "New Dylan Album" slot machine, where every pull comes up five stars?
"Themed hotels in Las Vegas allow one popular brand to join forces with the tremendously successful Las Vegas brand, resulting in a property with extraordinary appeal for visitors," said Erika Yowell, a spokeswoman for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
In recent months, reports have indicated a cooling of the hot Vegas real-estate market. Earlier this month, a high-profile project called ICON Las Vegas was abandoned, and some reports say Mr. Clooney's hotel and residential development, currently scheduled for a 2008 completion, may not survive.
But Rolling Stone is already set on branching out in other ways, including a December deal with MTV to produce a reality show in which contestants will vie to land a writing contract with the magazine. In May the magazine plans to celebrate its 1,000th issue with a three-dimensional, Sgt. Pepper's-style cover of the celebrities who've appeared in its pages over the years. Later this year, Wenner Media plans to revamp the magazine's Internet presence.
And there's still room for more spin-offs in Las Vegas. Among the other brands currently extending themselves into the casino market is Hooters, which opens its first hotel-casino on Feb. 3. (Las Vegas already has a standard-issue Hooters restaurant.)
The Hooters chain-like Rolling Stone starlet covers-relies heavily on a softer-than-soft-core mood. How will that brand of tease play in the city of Showgirls?
"Yes, you can find topless girls available in Las Vegas," said Richard Langlois, Hooters' senior vice president for marketing. "But that's not what we're about. We're about wholesome girls. You won't find Las Vegas divas at Hooters."