The project was ultimately cancelled because of an economic downturn caused by the September 11 attacks. The company imploded the El Rancho later that year, to make room for a London-themed resort. Turnberry Associates purchased the 21-acre (8.5 ha) property in 2000, for $45 million. It was later renamed as the Silverbird, and then as the El Rancho, before closing in 1992. The property was initially occupied by the Thunderbird hotel and casino, opened in 1948. The resort is scheduled to open on December 13, 2023, and will include a 173,000 sq ft (16,100 m 2) casino and 3,644 hotel rooms. Soffer reinstated the original name of the project, with construction resuming in November 2021. In February 2021, Soffer bought back the project through his company Fontainebleau Development, with Koch Real Estate Investments as a partner. However, construction stopped in March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Nevada. Seven years later, the unfinished resort was sold to investment firms Witkoff Group and New Valley LLC, which planned to open it as The Drew Las Vegas in 2022. Carl Icahn purchased the project out of bankruptcy in 2010, but never restarted construction. The Fontainebleau was 70-percent completed, and the opening had been scheduled for October 2009. Construction was put on hold two months later, when the project entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It is the tallest building in Nevada, excluding the nearby Strat observation tower.Ī group of banks had agreed to finance the project, but was sued by Fontainebleau in April 2009, after it cut off funding. The tower rises 68 stories, standing 737 feet high. Construction began in February 2007, and the hotel tower was topped off on November 14, 2008. The project was designed by Carlos Zapata Studio with Bergman Walls and Associates as the executive architect. It was originally proposed by developer Fontainebleau Resorts, owned by Jeff Soffer. Ownership and development has changed several times since the project was announced in May 2005. It is a sister property to Fontainebleau Miami Beach, and sits on the 24.5-acre (9.9 ha) site previously occupied by the El Rancho Hotel and Casino and the Algiers Hotel. The Fontainebleau Las Vegas is a resort and casino under construction on the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada.

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