Lucky Dragon Hotel and Casino

Early history

The resort is located on 2.5 acres (1.0 ha) of land at 300 West Sahara Avenue, a block west of the northern end of the Las Vegas Strip, an area that had become known for a number of vacant lots, older resorts, and failed projects. The property is located between the Golden Steer restaurant and the Allure Las Vegas condominium high-rise tower. Developer Andrew Fonfa had initially purchased the property as part of a five-acre parcel in 1987. At the time, Fonfa planned to build a hotel on the property, as he expected Circus Circus Enterprises to construct the Excalibur Hotel and Casino nearby, thus increasing tourism for the northern Las Vegas Strip. The Excalibur was ultimately built at the southern end of the Las Vegas Strip.

In May 2002, Fonfa proposed the Hilton Garden Inn, an eight-story Hilton-branded 200-room hotel with an attached 40,000 sq ft (3,700 m²) casino that would located on the property's east side. Hilton considered Fonfa's property to be a desirable location for one of their hotels, and approached him about a possible deal, although discussions were still preliminary at the time of the project's announcement. Under the partnership, Fonfa would own the hotel and casino, while Hilton would manage the hotel and would have no involvement in the casino operations. Fonfa was in negotiations with GE Capital to finance the project, and hoped to begin construction at the end of the year, with completion scheduled in 15 months. Construction was expected to cost $50 million. Four small commercial buildings located on the property were to be torn down to make room for the new resort. Fonfa changed his mind about the hotel-casino project after speaking with Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman and several city officials, stating that high-rise condominiums "is what the city wanted as part of its plan for residential living." In 2004, Fonfa was approved for plans to construct twin condominium towers on the property.

The Allure tower was opened in early 2008. The site of the Lucky Dragon had been planned for the second Allure tower, which was later cancelled because of poor sales caused by the Great Recession, and because of an oversupply of condominium high-rises on the Las Vegas Strip. To help sell units in the first Allure tower, Fonfa said that in 2008, "We realized we were going to need cash buyers. We went to LA and San Francisco and Vancouver and San Jose and put ads in all the Chinese newspapers in those communities. And we were very pleased with what came back, which was over 100 units sold to Chinese buyers." At that point, Fonfa then devised an idea to build a hotel and casino on the property originally planned for the second tower. In 2008, Fonfa and his lesbian sister, Gudren, revealed plans for a potential hotel-casino on the property adjacent to Allure. The $1.2 billion resort would be called Q, standing for "queer", and would cater to gay and lesbian people. The 45-story hotel would include 1,000 rooms, and would be managed by Wyndham. Fonfa did not formally announce the project as it was unclear when the American credit market would recover.

The Lucky Dragon project was later announced for the property in February 2012, as a 10-story hotel tower with 201 rooms and an 18,900 sq ft (1,760 m²) casino, with 478 slot machines and a 446-space parking garage. An Asian theme was chosen for the project as it was being financed by Chinese investors.

Construction

Groundbreaking on the Lucky Dragon began in May 2015, with the pouring of the resort's foundation. At that time, the hotel had been decreased to nine stories, while the casino was expected to contain two stories. After the hotel's lower portion was complete, construction crews added an additional floor every week. The hotel tower was topped out on September 11, 2015. The casino and parking garage were still under construction at that time, with the resort expected to open in summer 2016. The project was being financed by funds through the United States federal government's EB-5 program.

On November 16, 2015, Andrew Fonfa and development partner William Weidner requested approval for tax increment financing from the Las Vegas Redevelopment Agency, in order to receive a bank loan to continue construction on the project, which had already raised $60 million through the EB-5 program. On November 18, 2015, the Las Vegas City Council rejected Fonfa and Weidner's request for $25 million in subsidies to help finance the $139 million project, which was expected to open in August 2016. Approximately 3,600 jobs associated with the ongoing project were lost due to the decision. In May 2016, it was announced that the project had received full financing from Fonfa and Weidner's families. Construction was approximately 70 percent complete at that time, with the resort expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2016.

The Lucky Dragon was planned to be the first Las Vegas resort to offer an "authentic Asian lifestyle experience." David Jacoby, chief operating officer for the resort, said during construction that, "This whole place has been very specifically feng shui'd, from the color patterns, to the carpets, to where the seats are, to where the cash is. There will be no fourth floor in the hotel - that's a superstition similar to what we have in the United States with the number 13. There's no number 4 anywhere on the property. Our phone numbers don't have a 4 in it. People in the front of the house of the resort will speak Mandarin, Cantonese and other Asian dialects. Signage is in Chinese first, English second. What we're trying to do is build an authentic cultural experience from the ground-up for Asian clientele, both locally and regionally throughout the United States." Ahead of its opening, Fonfa described the Lucky Dragon as a locals casino that would primarily rely on local Asian residents as its clientele, as well as Asian tourists from China and California. Las Vegas Weekly wrote that the Lucky Dragon, with its large focus on Asian customers, "might be the most specifically focused casino project in the history of Las Vegas."

Opening and operation

On September 6, 2016, company officials announced that the resort would open on December 3, 2016. Lucky Dragon was expected to employ more than 800 people. The resort had a soft opening at 8:00 p.m. on November 19, 2016, with its official grand opening still scheduled for December 3. The Lucky Dragon opened with 203 hotel rooms, and a 4,500 sq ft (420 m²) spa, while the 27,500 sq ft (2,550 m²) casino offers popular Asian games such as baccarat, pai gow, and sic bo. The casino features 37 table games and 300 slot machines. It was the first new hotel-casino to open in Las Vegas since The Cosmopolitan in 2010. The resort – considered small in comparison to nearby competitors – is connected to the adjacent Allure tower.

The official grand opening took place on the afternoon of December 3, 2016, and was accompanied by a ribbon-cutting ceremony, costumed dancers dressed as Chinese lions and a dragon, and firecrackers. The Lucky Dragon's centerpiece is a 1.25 ton dragon chandelier that hangs over a bar. Work on the chandelier began in May 2015, with nearly 800 people working on it until its completion. Installation of the chandelier was completed in November 2016, after two weeks.

Restaurants

The Lucky Dragon features five restaurants:

Each restaurant offers only authentic Chinese food, which company officials expect to be the resort's primary advantage to bringing in customers. In August 2016, officials announced a contest to create a name for the night market restaurant – the resort's last unnamed eatery – with the winner receiving a weekend stay package.