Clark County commissioners have approved plans for a 752-room, 29-story heart-shaped hotel-casino on the long-vacant SkyVue site along Las Vegas Boulevard, directly across from Mandalay Bay on the south Strip. The vote clears the way for developer Eli Applebaum, operating through Kulik River Capital, to move forward on a project that has sat dormant for more than a decade.
The nearly 12-acre site has a checkered history. It once housed plans for the SkyVue observation wheel, a project that collapsed in 2012 and left behind two massive unfinished concrete support columns that have loomed over the south Strip ever since. Applebaum purchased the tract this spring for $70 million from a group that had acquired it years earlier through bankruptcy proceedings.
A Bold Design for an Overlooked Corner of the Strip
The approved plans call for a hotel tower shaped like a heart and wrapped in a full-height LED curtain wall, creating what developers hope will be one of the most photographed and socially shared structures on the Strip. The design also includes a covered pedestrian plaza reminiscent of downtown’s Fremont Street Experience, along with convention space, gaming, dining, retail, and a pool deck.
One of the more unusual elements of the plan involves the leftover SkyVue columns. Rather than demolishing them, the design incorporates the two towers into a midair restaurant concept roughly 265 feet in the air, effectively turning a decade-old construction failure into a signature feature of the new resort.
The project’s scope has already been adjusted once during the approval process. An earlier version called for a 406-foot tower with 874 rooms, but the height was reduced to 317 feet and 752 rooms after seeking Federal Aviation Administration clearance, which has since been granted following the revision.
What Comes Next
With zoning and county-level approvals now secured, the project still faces several hurdles before construction can begin. Developers must finalize financing, complete detailed architectural designs, and secure licensing from the Nevada Gaming Control Board. As with most large-scale Las Vegas developments, a firm groundbreaking date has not yet been announced, and the project’s pace will likely hinge on financing and broader market conditions. Current plans target a 2027 opening for the resort.
The approval adds another chapter to a stretch of the south Strip that has seen renewed investment activity, and it comes as the wider Las Vegas casino market continues to draw major capital — a trend that’s kept the city’s casino scene as competitive as ever for operators and bettors tracking the next big property to open.
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