The Seminole Tribe of Florida is preparing to open the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas and the adjoining Guitar Hotel Las Vegas on the site of the former Mirage hotel-casino. The approximately $4 billion development is scheduled to open in late 2027 and will feature nearly 3,600 hotel rooms, about 175,000 square feet of gaming space, entertainment venues, restaurants and other amenities.
For Tribal Chairman Marcellus Osceola Jr., the 660-foot guitar-shaped hotel rising above the Strip represents a milestone in a decades-long evolution. The tribe’s gaming enterprise traces its origins to 1979, when it opened the first high-stakes bingo hall and casino in the United States, now known as Seminole Classic Casino Hollywood. Osceola, whose grandfather Bill Osceola was the tribe’s first Tribal Council chairman, said the project supports tribal programs back home, including medical care, education, recreation and services for seniors.
Hard Rock International, which the Seminole Tribe bought in 2007 for $965 million, purchased The Mirage’s operating business from MGM Resorts International for $1.075 billion in 2022. VICI Properties owns the underlying real estate. Osceola said the tribe had spent more than a decade exploring expansion opportunities, including its 2018 entry into Atlantic City through the purchase and redevelopment of the former Trump Taj Mahal.
Victor Rocha, conference chair at the National Indian Gaming Association and owner and editor of Pechanga.net, said the Seminoles’ expansion reflects a broader transformation in Indian Country. “The story of the Seminoles is the story of Indian Country,” Rocha said. “Taking the opportunity that was presented before us and making much more of,” the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988.
Sources: Las Vegas Review-Journal
Original reporting: Las Vegas Review-Journal →
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