Vegas Strip’s First Jewish Hotel and Temple Proposed for Half-Acre Once Coveted by Steve Wynn

Posted on: April 2, 2024, 05:18h. 

Last updated on: April 3, 2024, 10:11h.

Corey Levitan Read More

Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas.

Plans for the Last Vegas Strip’s first Jewish-themed hotel, featuring its first synagogue and kosher restaurants, have been submitted for approval to Clark County. Equally as interesting as the proposed King David Hotel, however, is the history of the strange parcel of land on which its developer wants to build it.

The King David, as proposed by Vegas developer Ray Korghli, would feature 486 rooms in a 648-foot-tall structure shaped like Manhattan’s Citicorp Center.

In addition to the Strip’s first synagogue and kosher restaurants, plans submitted to Clark County say the hotel would also feature a kosher banquet facility and retail and convention space.

A Call for It

Having a hub on the Strip is an idea that Jewish leaders have wanted for years. The nearest synagogue, Chabad of Southern Nevada, is four miles from the Strip. And kosher eating on the Strip is limited to a handful of Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf locations inside resorts, while the nearest full kosher kitchen is six miles from the Strip.

Those are far walks for the most observant of Jews, who follow strict Torah law forbidding them from riding in cars or even using electricity on Saturdays.

But a permanent hotel on The Strip would make Las Vegas a year-round destination for Jewish tourism for the first time in its existence.

Strange History

The King David would be built at 3601 Vegas Plaza Drive, a small, unique, and strange parcel of land. Located on 0.6 acres right between and behind the Mirage and Treasure Island, it is currently occupied by a low-rent apartment complex that was once at the center of a fiery battle between Steve Wynn and its former owner.

Though Steve Wynn bought up all the land surrounding The Mirage to will his dream into reality in 1987, Mike Flores and his family saw the opportunity to extort the casino mogul for much more than their tiny parcel’s assessed value of $291,870 (including its buildings).

Flores, whose parents built the apartment building in 1975 on land they had owned for more than a decade before that, demanded $6 million.

Wynn countered with $2 million. And when Flores rejected his offer, both parties went to war.

Real-Life Pirate Battle

Wynn buried three huge propane tanks only a few hundred feet from the Villa De Flores. They stored the fuel necessary for “Battle of Buccaneer Bay,” Treasure Island’s fiery free pirate show on the Strip.

In 1999, one of the tanks went up in flames. Miraculously, none of the apartment’s residents was injured in the blast or ensuing fire. It was ruled accidental, though Flores called it an “accident waiting to happen.”

Steve Wynn is to the good-neighbor policy what Jeffrey Dahmer is to dining etiquette,” Flores said around that time, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Flores fired a return shot over Wynn’s bow in the form of his own proposed hotel on the site. But he dropped his idea for a nine-story tower when Wynn responded with a massive lawsuit claiming the structure would be too big and violate several building codes.

Flores sold the land for $3.8 million in 2004, years after Wynn sold both The Mirage and Treasure Island. Koroghli purchased the Villa De Flores for $6.5 million in 2007.

Though the proposal appeared on the agenda for the April 3 Clark County Zoning Commission meeting, initial public discussion about the proposal is likely to be tabled until June because Clark County staff have recommended minor changes.

Koroghli did not return voicemails left by Casino.org seeking comment for this story.