Changes Happening To The Vegas Strip Right Now

There are a lot of changes happening on the Las Vegas strip right now. Many people just know the construction as an inconvenience. Most of the major projects happening on the strip right now are Caesars Entertainment casinos, hotels and shopping areas. Here’s the quick breakdown in order of new projects opening.

Out: Imperial Palace (photo flickr/ [email protected]) – Caesars Entertainment does not own the license for the name Imperial Palace and decided not to renew their lease on the name. The property is undergoing a name change to The Quad and being renovated.

In: The Quad – Caesars decided to only renovate the casino and not hotel of The IP/The Q. The good news is you’ll have a new casino. The bad news is you can still get the dirtiest rooms on the strip! Hey, at least they’re cheap. Transformation will be completed by 12/21. Learn more details about The Quad at Vegas Chatter.

Out: O’Shea’s – O’Sheas closed earlier this year and is the biggest closure because of what’s being built in its place, The Linq. I’m happy to see this dump go away, but it was a place for people to go and gamble and drink for cheap. It had a place on the strip.

In: The Linq – The Linq is not a casino. Instead it will be a variety of retail outlets, restaurants and bars with a ferris wheel as the anchor to the area. This will be a huge area of the strip that seems as if it will rival CityCenter in size. The Linq’s tenant’s aren’t very exciting but there’s nothing horribly offensive about any of the bars or restaurants. The Linq is scheduled to open December 2013. Vegas Chatter has a lot more information on this huge space causing traffic on the strip.

Out: Bill’s Gambling Hall & Saloon (photo flickr/ anna_jewels) – Bill’s will close in February 2013 and will be gutted but not imploded. In its place a new “boutique” hotel/casino will open focused on serving people more interested in nightclubs than gambling. I’ve never been inside of Bill’s, but people that like cheap drinking and gambling were their customer. Notice the trend here by Caesars?

In: Drai’s (Actual name TBD) – This casino will be completely different by the time renovations are complete in 2014. From all accounts it seems as if this will be geared towards the same people that go to Cosmopolitan for Marquee nightclub. It will be interesting to see how that segment of Vegas visitors develops over the next two years. No photo here since there’s no renderings.

Maybe more: There was talk of Bally’s Grand Bazaar shops being built on the strip earlier this year but I haven’t heard anything recently and there’s no construction happening right now.

I have no memories tied to any of the places closing on the strip so I’m not sad about any of these changes. I look forward to seeing what the strip looks like in 2014.

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