I heart the WDEVELOPMENT: W hotel takes Sin City spin $1.7 billion luxury condo-hotel aims for hip clientele
Starwood Hotels and Resorts plan to make its W hotel in Las Vegas a flagship property for the upscale brand's "global footprint," W Hotels Worldwide's president said Tuesday while giving details about the $1.7 billion
project.
The hotel at Harmon Avenue and Koval Lane will have a mix of 3,000 hotel and residential units, more than 10 restaurants and nightclubs, a 75,000-square-foot casino, 300,000 square feet of meeting space and a spa and gym, W's Ross Klein said. It's scheduled to open in 2008.
Klein said Las Vegas has been at the top of W Hotels' development
strategy for years, ranking No. 1 or No. 2 on the request list of W guests along
with South Beach in Miami, where a W Hotel is already under construction.
"It's also an opportunity for us to redefine and reinvent what an urban oasis is," he said. "The W in New York came into an urban environment with a different point of view. When you come in off the street inNew York, it's a retreat, an escape. That's going to be the same design point of view we put into the W in Las Vegas."
Adam Frank and his partners at Edge Resorts started talking with
Starwood about developing a W hotel in Las Vegas at the site of Bourbon Street
casino on east Flamingo Road. Even after acquiring an adjacent apartment complex
for a total of 8 acres, it wasn't enough land.
Edge Resorts sold the Bourbon Street property to Harrah's Entertainment last month and bought 21 acres at Harmon and Koval, including the existing Ice nightclub and two separate parcels
from Fort Worth, Texas-based home builder D.R. Horton, for $108 million.
Edge Resorts entered a joint venture with Starwood Hotels and Resorts
and will be a 75 percent owner of the W hotel. Starwood owns the remaining 25
percent and will manage the hotel.
"They wanted a bigger property and they really wanted to be on Harmon,"
Frank said. "Twenty-one acres really gives us a lot more flexibility to do what
we want to accomplish. We want to build a destination resort, but at the same
time, we want to have an intimate feel to it, that signature W feel with great
night life and a blend of restaurants."
Frank said the project combines the hottest, most sought-after hotel brand in the world with one of the most vibrant hospitality markets in the United States.
"We really think that location is the future of Las Vegas," he said.
"There's so much happening right around us."
With some $20 billion in planned development, from the Hard Rock Hotel
expansion to MGM Mirage's Project CityCenter to the Palms' new hotel and condo
towers, the Harmon corridor is poised to become a hip, happening location, Klein
said.
"I think it's going to be a destination with a very specific offering, sort of a pop culture, and I think we're going to be sort of an anchor," he said.
W Hotel Las Vegas will offer guests "extraordinary experiences" at
every turn through the brand's lifestyle elements, including indulgences and
experiential surprises that will be unheard of even for Las Vegas, Klein
said.
Klein said he expects the new resort to compete with the Hard Rock Hotel,Mandalay Bay, the Palms, Wynn Las Vegas and Four Seasons.
Deutsche Bank analyst Marc Falcone said it was important for W to
finally land in Las Vegas. "I think W needs exposure in Vegas given what the
brand stands for," he said. "It's going to be a strong fit for Las Vegas. This
is a very powerful location."
Condo-hotel and residential units will go on sale in the fourth
quarter, priced from $550,000, offering a combination of poolside cabanas,
studios and one- and two-bedroom condominiums, all attached to the W
hotel.
Klein said the project is in the final stages of architectural plans
and design reviews.
The first W hotel opened in New York in December 1998. There are now
five hotels in New York and 20 more around the United States and worldwide with
another 20 under development, Klein said.
Hi Crista,
It was so nice to spend a little time with you at Symposium- Im as sooooooooooooooo excited to bring you on board in Chicago . Please keep in touch with me and let me know how I can help you with any transition. Im looking forward to working with you and I just know you are going to be amazing for us in Chi town. If you ever want to spend some time with me in the field, please let me know.
However I can help you – Im there for you.
No doubt, I am an avid consumer of material goods.
The Mall Of America (MOA):
All that being said, you would think that one would be beside themselves to reside downtown Minneapolis, within 10 miles of this absurdly gigantic shopping center.
In view of the Redken Symposium happening this weekend, and a lack of spare time, I found it necessary to take a quick shopping trip to the MOA* – in search of a few swank & voguish pieces/accessories to wear.
After all, RS09 is THE place to be noticed, being that there will be 10,000** hairdressers in attendance. I am unwilling to show up unrehearsed and ill-considered, providing a perception of the mid-western Minnesota girl that is flourishing within me.
*Options for shopping in the Twin Cities:
Plenty of money in hand (OK, daddy’s credit card that I am responsible for paying), I was ready to purchase any and every voguish item that caught my eye.
After hitting Bloomingdales, Nordstrom Rack, H&M, AND Forever 21 – using ALL of my resources @ MOA- I walked out of the mall empty-handed, forced to head back home to my closet full of yesterdays clothing.
(There was NO DOUBT at the very least, I would find a few disposable, on-trend items at Forever 21. WTF )
I went ahead and packed every piece of yesterdays clothing I own, and will make do.
**give or take a few thousand – we’re in a recession.
Although nothing is official, I am 100% sure I am moving back to Chicago before the summer hits. Just in time to enjoy the lake ....Hey, good to hear back from you. Thta's cool that you're
in the CHI. Great time to be here.....What kinda job are you looking to get
here? Tired of the minnie city? It would be nice to have you back in the CHI
even though I'm sure I wouldn't see you. How's BJ* doin? Tiger** is doing
great...he's really grown up and maturing. He'll be in 5th grade next year! :)-K
This is a small visual of what my world will look like as soon as I step off of a plane in Vegas on Friday. The Redken Symposium only happens every 2 years and is probably the largest event I will ever attend. Year after year, the Symposium is voted the #1 Educational Event by hairstylists across the nation.
I am proud to be a part of it.
But what the hell am I going to wear?? I will dress simply and let my personality do the talking. . .
ALSO, I apologize for the lame content of my blog since the turn of the New Year. I'm feeling slightly understimulated and I've been in a funk. The Symposium will drag me out of the funk I have been in and will be sure to load me with content to spill Crista From The Block* style.
Please do not forget to check your reactions at the bottom of the blog.
Peace, love & unicorns. xox
Minnetonka moccasins soar in fashion world
By Sara Glassman,
MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE
Monday, November 24, 2008
MINNEAPOLIS -- When it comes to shoes and boots
this season, fringe is on top. Soft Minnetonka Moccasins, with their signature
hanging strips of suede, have inspired designers and urban bohemians for
decades. Over the past year, their popularity has been soaring.
In light of the uncertain economy, they are
relatively affordable -- basic shoes start at $30, and more elaborate boots with
three tiers of fringe are $86. Plus, every style is completely flat, making them
far more comfortable and practical than stilettos.
With these populist perks, it's not surprising that moccasins are
having a fashion moment. But even trendsetters who theoretically would be able
to afford much pricier versions by Jimmy Choo ($495) and Michael Kors ($475)
favor the Minnetonka brand. Fashion muse Kate Moss has been sporting them for
years. Last month, she was spotted in brown knee-high Minnetonka mocs with a
pair of denim cutoffs in London. Young stars Lindsay Lohan, Blake Lively and
Mischa Barton also have been photographed in them.
That said, the footwear-of-the-moment isn't a one-season wonder.
In the recently published "The One Hundred: The Guide to the Pieces Every
Stylish Woman Must Own," authors Nina Garcia and Ruben Toledo identify
must-haves such as pencil skirts and red lipstick, but recognize Minnetonka
Moccasin by the brand name. They wrote: "Many people have made fashion versions
of the original, but the original is still the hands-down favorite."
Those originals, as the Minnetonka implies, have
Minneapolis roots. However, there are a few misconceptions to be cleared up
about them, starting with the fact that the company is headquartered in
Minneapolis and never has been based in or even affiliated with the city
identified in the moniker.
"Minnesota, Minnehaha, Minnetonka ... the name sounds Native
American and local in origin," says David Miller, president of the family-owned
shoe business.
His grandfather,
Philip Miller, started Minnetonka Moccasins in 1946, after World War II, as a
gift supplier for resorts. "There was more automobile traffic because of the
growing highway system in the United States," David Miller says. "Wherever
people went, from Yosemite to northern Minnesota, they would buy trinkets, and
the moccasins were part of that."
Tourist souvenirs aside, are there any authentic Indian roots?
"No, we've never associated ourselves with a Native American product or been
made by Native Americans," Miller says. "Moccasins are part of the Native
American culture. I'm sure at one time there was an authentic product being
sold, but not by us."
Specific
styles of Minnetonka Moccasins have had moments in the spotlight in recent
years: In 2005, it was the classic with beaded eagles, and a few years before
that, it was the lace-up boots.
Many of the styles, from shoes to ankle boots to
knee-highs, are hot now, especially in Los Angeles and New York. "We've been
involved in fashion cycles, but this is very broad," Miller says. "We're
honored, amused and flattered."
Much of the credit is because of the celebrity
connection. Miller is very familiar with the impact that model Moss has had on
business. "Kate will be in a magazine, wearing boots identified as Minnetonkas,
and our distributor in Japan will call the next day," he says. "That's the world
today -- small and instantaneous."
*randomness
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