Nevada casinos change shape: Hard Rock and Affinity updates

Hard Rock International plans to build a guitar-shaped tower as Affinity Interactive announces the sale of Rail City Casino.

This month Clark County commissioners will vote on a project that, if approved, will shake up the skyline of the Las Vegas Strip. Hard Rock plans to replace The Mirage’s volcano attraction with a proposed 600-room high-rise shaped like an electric guitar. The County Commission is scheduled on March 22.

Hard Rock indicated it will renovate the existing hotel and casino as part of its plan to turn The Mirage into a Hard Rock-branded resort.

Project representative Jennifer Lazovich, land-use attorney with law firm Kaempfer Crowell, called the project an “engineering masterpiece,” in a letter to the county. The high-rise will be 660 feet tall and designed to resemble back-to-back guitars with “brightly lit strings.”

Lazovich said the unique tower will “forever change the skyline of the Strip.”

Hard Rock acquired The Mirage’s operations from MGM Resorts International in December. The entertainment brand, owned by the Seminole Tribe of Florida, unveiled plans for a guitar-shaped tower on the property in late 2021, when its acquisition was first announced.

There are 8,798 electronic signatures on a Change.org petition to “save” The Mirage’s volcano, as of Wednesday March 8th.  

The Seminole Tribe acquired the Hard Rock brand in 2007, and the purchase of The Mirage provides a strong base for the Tribe in Las Vegas Boulevard’s casino-resort business.

Meanwhile, in Washoe County, Affinity Interactive, announced that its affiliates have entered into an agreement to sell Rail City Casino to affiliates of Truckee Gaming, LLC. Though located in Sparks, Nevada, rather than Las Vegas, Rail City Casino spans 24,000 square feet of gaming space and operates nearly 415 slot machines.

Andrei Scrivens, CEO of Affinity Interactive, said, “As part of the Affinity Interactive family, we expanded our offerings and capabilities, allowing us to continuously enhance the Rail City experience for our valued customers and gaming enthusiasts.”

Stephanie Feeley

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