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Redevelopment plans for Western Hotel under review
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Martin S. Fuentes/Las Vegas Review Journal
The Western Hotel at 900 E. Fremont St., which closed indefinitely Monday, was opened in 1970 as a bingo parlor by gaming pioneers Jackie Gaughan and Mel Exber. » Buy this photo
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The Western Hotel at 900 E. Fremont St., in downtown Las Vegas, is shown on Monday, the day it closed indefinitely. Martin S. Fuentes/Review Journal » Buy this photo
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
If it were on the Strip, the Western Hotel would have been imploded years ago.
Being in a less-than-plush block of East Fremont Street, the deteriorating casino was able to extend its life by catering to a clientele of low-limit gamblers and $1 beer drinkers.
Early Monday morning, owner Tamares Real Estate closed the Western indefinitely while redevelopment plans are reviewed.
"We do have a couple plans, possibly a renovation plan with hotel rooms," said Jonathan Jossel, director of Las Vegas properties for Tamares. "We're very committed to that area and we have a lot of interest in seeing that area come back."
Tamares is a big believer in downtown, where it also owns the recently renovated Plaza, Las Vegas Club, a block of buildings in the Fremont Entertainment District and 25 acres of vacant land, including the 2.7-acre parcel once home to the former Ambassador East, across the street from the Western.
Termination notices were sent to Western's 90 employees in November, and they may be considered for positions at those casinos, Jossel said.
Tamares is expected to announce plans later this week for the old Western building at Fremont and Sixth streets. One option is to raze it and combine its 2.3 acres with the Ambassador land to build something from scratch. Plans for the vacant land went "back to drawing board" when the real estate market took a downturn in 2007, Jossel said.
Mike Nolan, general manager and chief operating officer of the nearby El Cortez, said the Western's closure won't affect his casino. They're two different groups of customers, he said.
"Those things happen periodically. You know, they closed the rooms and then they closed for graveyard (night shift), so it was just an eventual thing," Nolan said. "At this point, there wasn't a whole lot going on there."
What happens next on the Western property is still up in the air, but odds are it won't be a casino.
With Zappos.com moving its headquarters downtown, there should be more demand for residential units and grocery and retail stores to serve what many predict will be a growing downtown population, Nolan said.
Another gaming property isn't needed, he said.
Jossel said Tamares is excited about the Zappos move and redevelopment of East Fremont.
"With our holdings and Zappos moving downtown and all of the other development, we see the value of upgrading the property for the future," he said. "If you walk from Fifth Street (Las Vegas Boulevard) to Ninth Street, there's exciting plans in every block. Remember three or four years ago, people wouldn't come to Sixth Street."
The Western opened in 1970 as a bingo parlor owned by gaming pioneers Jackie Gaughan and Mel Exber. Gaughan sold his hotel properties to Barrick Gaming in 2004, keeping only the El Cortez. Barrick sold its casino ownership to Tamares Group in 2005.
Contact reporter Hubble Smith at hsmith@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0491.
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Tamares is the most arrogant land owner / developer in downtown Las Vegas. Jossel is the the most obnoxious twit punk working for any owner downtown: He is all mouth and no ears. The Plaza is not meeting it's projections for this $35M redecoration and still has core plumbing and electrical problems that were not fixed. Oscar's will not survive more than 12-24 months. Zappo's moving downtown is NOT going to instantly create a huge demand for new housing because there are still 100's of empty units like Juhl that will soon come back to the market. Zappo's is only bringing 1000 to 1200 staff downtown to begin, and they are not all moving downtown--most will remain in their existing homes. The Ambassador or Western site would make a pretty good grocery store site IF there were any grocery store demand and market to actually move downtown. Remember that Fresh and Easy was just down the street at Fremont and Charleston, and closed in less than 6 months dude to poor sales and continuous thefts.
I've heard that the Plaza is struggling, but I have eaten at Oscar's twice...off the hook and the rooms are amazing. I hope they pull it together business wise because overall the renovation of the property is fantastic in my opinion.
As for the Western property, I think it would make a great location for a grocery chain perhaps. It's the one thing missing down there for people that live at the Ogden; could be a great business venture.
Open it up, put yhe Occupy horde in there, and then board it up again
The Western bit the dust. No one noticed.
I wonder how well thePlaza is doing? It looked empty the other week. They should have bulldozed downtown and rebuilt the whole thing from the ground up.