Palms Casino Resort

In 1997, Maloof was the owner of the Fiesta hotel-casino in North Las Vegas. His initial plan was to grow the Fiesta name with a new location on the Flamingo Road site, The property was initially divided across two parcels, with Wynn Road running between them. In July 2000, Maloof agreed to sell the Fiesta to Station Casinos. Later that month, Station and The Greenspun Corporation both agreed to purchase a separate six-percent stake in Maloof's upcoming resort. Preliminary work on the property began on July 24, 2000. The project was designed by Jerde Partnership International, based in Los Angeles. KGA Architecture served as the executive architect. The casino would also feature an abundance of video poker and loose slot machines, like the Fiesta. An official groundbreaking ceremony was held for the Palms on October 24, 2000. A fire occurred on the lower floors of the hotel tower in April 2001, during construction. The fire, apparently caused by welding, caused $75,000 in minimal damage and would not delay construction. The 42-story hotel tower was topped off on June 7, 2001. It was originally planned as a 40-story building, but the floor count was increased to beat out the nearby Rio hotel, which stood at 41 stories. from First Security Bank and Wells Fargo. After the attacks, Maloof planned to proceed with the opening, despite the potential impact on tourism. The Palms had already hired most of its 2,500 employees. To help promote the opening, Maloof invited high rollers and Hollywood agents to a party at Hugh Hefner's Playboy Mansion, featuring faux gaming tables and images of the resort. The party was aimed at attracting celebrities to the resort. In addition, Maloof mailed offers to Las Vegas residents, hoping to sign up 50,000 members for the new Palms slot club. He also made promotional appearances on local news stations and The Today Show. The hotel portion would be marketed in Arizona, California, and Maloof's home state of New Mexico. Maloof also planned to promote the resort through his basketball team, the Sacramento Kings. Opening and early years The Palms opened to thousands of invited guests and VIPs on November 15, 2001, at 7:00 p.m. Notable attendees included Pamela Anderson, Matt Dillon, Nevada governor Kenny Guinn, Samuel L. Jackson, Joe Pesci, Tara Reid, Dennis Rodman, Martin Sheen and Charlize Theron. The resort opened to the public at 11:00 p.m. Maloof served as the public face for the resort. He planned for the Palms to appeal to the same young demographic as the nearby Hard Rock Hotel. He also hoped that its location, near Interstate 15, would make it appealing to local residents. He considered the Palms close enough to the Strip to attract tourists, but far enough to bring in locals, who generally avoid the Strip. It was the first Brenden Theatres location to open in Las Vegas. Michael Morton, the brother of Hard Rock Hotel owner Peter Morton, operated several venues at the Palms, including a nightclub, a steakhouse, and the pool area. They were operated through Morton's company, N9NE Group. The Palms also had of convention space. In subsequent years, the resort would add other features, such as a medical center for employees and the public, and a tattoo parlor by Carey Hart and John Huntington. Maloof was satisfied with the Palms' early financial results, although local residents were generally not impressed at first, complaining of issues such as cramped casino aisles and loud music. Maloof managed to attract locals by launching a promotional campaign, introducing more full-pay video poker machines, and removing some machines for more space. During the day, the property was frequented by older local residents, while younger tourists would arrive later in the evening. By mid-2003, Maloof was planning to eventually add a second hotel tower, due to the strong success of the resort. Later in 2003, the Palms hosted a 50th anniversary celebration for the magazine Playboy and renamed a nearby street as Hugh Hefner Drive. A year later, the Palms partnered with Playboy to eventually use the magazine's name at the resort. In 2004, a pair of identical 26-year-old twins won a resort contest to become Palm Girls. They went on to represent the Palms through television appearances and in printed media, and their faces were later featured on casino chips for the resort. Construction of the new hotel tower was underway in 2004, with Whiting-Turner as general contractor. It would eventually open as the Fantasy Tower. It was also designed by Jerde Partnership, and was built south of the original tower. The Fantasy Tower began opening in October 2005, with various suites. The tower officially celebrated its opening in May 2006. The Playboy Club opened in the tower five months later. The Fantasy Tower also added a recording studio for musicians. By that point, revenue from local residents had dropped from 80 to 65 percent, with tourists becoming more prevalent at the resort. Later in 2007, Richard Branson, wearing a body harness, jumped from the Fantasy Tower in a stunt to promote his Virgin America airline. A high-rise condo hotel, known as Palms Place, was opened in 2008. It was the third and final tower to be built on the Palms property. That year, the Palms began to suffer financially due to the economic effects of the Great Recession. By 2010, the Palms had accumulated 661 building code violations, which Maloof attributed to significant expansion of the resort over the years. In mid-2010, Maloof reluctantly agreed to have a scent distributed through the casino, in an effort to compete with rivals that were doing the same. However, the scent was discontinued after less than a month, due to negative customer reception. In September 2010, N9NE Group sued the Palms after the resort tried to fire Andy Belmonti, a N9NE executive who was responsible for overseeing the company's venues at the property. Belmonti had recently began work on a new restaurant for Morton at the Wynn Las Vegas resort, and the Palms alleged that profits had declined since then, arguing that Belmonti had neglected his duties at the Palms. It was also alleged that N9NE used Palms money to pay off several employee lawsuits, without informing the resort. The Palms countersued and further alleged that Morton had misused resort money and staff for his own purposes, including house parties. The suit also accused Belmonti of carrying out a financial cover-up, and alleged that another executive had escorted underage women into 21-and-up venues at the resort. The Palms and a group of N9NE investors sought to remove Morton and Belmonti, who denied the accusations. Both sides settled in January 2011, with N9NE departing the Palms. The resort would take over operations of the company's former venues there. Ownership changes In 2010, Texas Pacific Group (TPG) purchased a portion of the Palms' $380 million bank debt. The Palms began missing loan payments that year, due to poor economic conditions. In January 2011, Maloof was negotiating with TPG and Leonard Green & Partners for the companies to gain a controlling interest in the Palms, after they had acquired most of a Palms loan in 2010. In June 2011, the companies announced a partnership called TPG Opportunity Partners, which would convert the Palms' debt into equity. TPG and Leonard Green would each own a 49-percent share of the resort, while the Maloof family's ownership would be reduced to 2 percent, with the option to eventually purchase up to 20 percent. George Maloof would continue to oversee operations as chairman, and he said that little would change at the property. Station Casinos and Greenspun were no longer involved as minority owners. and a renovation was planned for the resort. A subdued celebration was held for the Palms' 10th anniversary, honoring its employees and local residents rather than celebrities. The resort's average customer now ranged from 30 to 50 years old, and the renovations were designed to reflect this older demographic. The Palms' roadside neon sign had advertised the property as "a Maloof casino resort" since its opening. As part of the renovations, the Maloofs' name was eventually removed from the sign. In September 2012, the resort took over ownership of the venues previously overseen by N9NE, including nightclubs. The Palms was subsequently fined $1 million by the Nevada Gaming Commission, after an investigation found that nightclub employees – under N9NE's management – had offered drugs and prostitutes to undercover officers. In March 2016, TPG and Leonard Green were considering a sale of the resort. Red Rock Resorts, the parent company of Station Casinos, announced two months later that it would purchase the Palms for $312.5 million. The purchase was finalized in October 2016, and the company began making changes to the resort. In late 2017, plans were announced for a $485 million renovation that would include a hotel remodel, and new restaurants and clubs. Station's CEO Frank Fertitta III said, "We were partners in this property for nearly 10 years. We have a history of understanding what the Palms property is capable of doing. It lacked a lot of tender loving care." The cost of the renovation project eventually increased to $620 million. It would cover numerous areas of the resort. A five-story parking garage was increased by two floors as part of the renovations. The original roadside sign was disassembled in February 2018, and eventually replaced by a fully digital one. Portions of the renovated resort were unveiled starting in May 2018. Station planned to target locals and tourists while offering value-oriented amenities. Fertitta and his brother were avid art collectors, and artwork was spread throughout the renovated resort. Red Rock had partnered with Tao Group, which was to open a new nightclub and restaurants at the Palms. However, the partnership was terminated later in 2018. Under Red Rock's ownership, the Palms failed to regain its popularity. Kaos, a new nightclub, was opened in 2019. It was meant as a major attraction, but instead was closed seven months later. Nevada casinos were ordered to close on March 18, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on the state. Casinos there began reopening a few months later, although the Palms remained closed as of March 2021, while Red Rock waited for a rebound of the economy. On May 4, 2021, Red Rock announced that it would sell the Palms to the Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation for $650 million, pending regulatory approvals expected later in the year. Analysts believed that the resort still had potential. Local residents would be the primary target demographic. The sale was finalized on December 17, 2021, and the Palms became the first Las Vegas resort to have a Native American owner. The band began a hiring campaign to prepare for reopening, ultimately employing more than 900 people, including some former workers. The resort's employee facilities were upgraded, but the band otherwise made few changes to the property in light of Red Rock's renovation a few years earlier. The Palms reopened on the night of April 27, 2022, with live music and a fireworks show. The Brenden Theatres facility was renovated and reopened two days later. ==Features==