LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The Fontainebleau, which has sat empty on the Las Vegas Strip for more than a decade, will no longer become a Marriott-operated property and will operate as a Fontainebleau as originally planned years ago, 8 News Now has learned.
In July, Marriott announced plans to finally open the towering blue building in 2023 as a JW Marriott. A website dedicated to the future hotel has since disappeared. Marriott had said it would operate the 3,700-room property as “the first JW Marriott on the Las Vegas Strip.”
“Marriott recently reached an amicable settlement with the hotel’s owner that has resulted in Marriott exiting the project,” a company spokesperson said in a statement to 8 News Now.
Koch Real Estate Investments bought the 20-acre north Strip property in February for $350 million, records show. The company did not return repeated requests for comment.
In a statement to 8 News Now on Thursday, a spokeswoman for Fontainebleau Development said the hotel would be operated by them. It was unclear Thursday if the building’s name would contain the “Fontainebleau” title, but the spokesperson said the development group would operate it.
“The agreement with Marriott International was made with the building’s previous owner,” she said. “Having come full circle and taken ownership of the site in Las Vegas, we intend to fulfill our original vision and deliver the same extraordinary hospitality experience that our guests have come to expect from Fontainebleau Development.”
Construction started on what was then called the Fontainebleau in 2007, but ended a few years later when the $2 billion project went bankrupt.
Developer Steve Witkoff bought the property in 2017 with plans to open as the Drew, but it didn’t happen.
