Rolling Stone Enters Due Diligence to Purchase Downtown Grand

By Scott Roeben, on March 24 2025
3 min read 5 comments
Downtown Las Vegas Las Vegas Las Vegas Hotels

The saga of the sale of Downtown Grand has taken another turn with sources saying Penske Media Corporation, owner of Rolling Stone, has entered the fray as a potential buyer.

Penske is the latest in a line of companies kicking the tires of Downtown Grand. Former CEO of Cosmo John Unwin and his Corvus Collective were near the finish line, but fell out of the running when the company couldn’t come up with the $30 million in cash needed to seal the deal.

The potential of Rolling Stone buying Downtown Grand from CIM Group opens up myriad possibilities, including for Life is Beautiful. Let’s embark on some cerebral perambulation, shan’t we?

Here we go again.

It’s hard to discuss the sale of Downtown Grand without getting one’s hopes up. CIM has been trying to unload Downtown Grand for a decade, but insiders say a sale is closer than ever.

We trust Penske has the deep pockets needed to not only buy Downtown Grand, but also to refresh it, presumably including a rebrand to Rolling Stone Hotel & Casino.

That’s what we’d do.

The allure of the Rolling Stone brand isn’t what it once was, but anything is better than the bland Downtown Grand. The place has never really had a distinct personality, and the distance from Fremont Street has always been a challenge.

Would concerts on the street between Downtown Grand and its restaurant row (Triple George, Pizza Rock, Hot N Juicy Crawfish) bring foot traffic from Fremont? That’s a yes.

Rolling Stone has serious clout in the music world (Penske even owns half of South by Southwest), which would give it instant recognition and the hotel would be “downtown’s Hard Rock.”

Hard Rock Las Vegas is expected to open in 2027 on the site of the former Mirage, but that’s not downtown.

The footprint of Downtown Grand is unique, but its management has never figured out a way to make the most of the space, especially N. 3rd Street which could easily be positioned as a “district,” as has been the push with Fremont East.

Downtown Grand Las Vegas
We’ve always liked Downtown Grand. Lately, it’s unclear if it’s even trying.

Which brings us to Life is Beautiful. The downtown festival fizzled due to neglect in its recent incarnation, with many assuming the festival had come to an unceremonious end. The plug was even pulled on the festival’s Web site.

If Downtown Grand becomes Rolling Stone Hotel & Casino Las Vegas, Life is Beautiful could be both alive and beautiful again. Life is Beautiful was created downtown, lived downtown and should not only exist again, but should stay downtown.

With its live entertainment connections, Rolling Stone could also take part in more collaborations with the concerts at Fremont Street Experience, as well as be a full partner in downtown’s Neon City Festival.

The Neon City Festival was created to counter the disastrous financial impact of F1 on downtown, and involved a unique collaboration between all the casinos downtown, even those not members of the Fremont Street Experience (Plaza, El Cortez, Strat, Downtown Grand).

A Rolling Stone partnership would take the Neon City Festival to the next level.

In the meantime, Downtown Grand has gotten a little weird.

While the sale of Downtown Grand to Penske Media Corporation isn’t a done deal, the mind reels at what might result should the transaction happen.

A rebrand and influx of new talent and management (Downtown Grand is currently managed by Fifth Street Gaming, of Ojos Locos casino fame) could give the former Lady Luck a fighting chance.

Penske is a media monster (it owns Variety, Women’s Wear Daily, Deadline Hollywood, Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter and others), so promotion of a Rolling Stone resort would be far beyond anything imagined by Downtown Grand.

You’ll hear more when we do. We’ll have our earplugs in, but still.