Las Vegas Pop-Up Casino Approved To Operate For Eight Hours On Tuesday

The Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC) approved a pop-up casino request from Marriott earlier this month. The pop-up casino with 16 slot machines will be open at 365 Convention Center Drive, near the Las Vegas Convention Center, for eight hours on Tuesday from 6 a.m.-2 p.m.

Nevada and Clark County regulations require a company to offer public gaming for at least eight hours at least once every 18 months in order to maintain a license. The number of slot machines and hours of operation for the pop-up casino are both the minimum requirement for Marriott to keep the gaming license for the land.

The Las Hurrah For This Pop-up Casino?

The approval for the popup casino from the NGC wasn’t a surprise. The Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) offered a recommendation to approve the pop-up casino on May 3. What wasn’t expected was the NGC telling Marriott that the constant requests for a pop-up casino to keep the land zoned for a casino couldn’t continue forever.

The commission said the company needs to advance a conclusive plan for the land. The hotel operator and landowner has had a pop-up casino 10 times on this land for the past 17 years.

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Co
mmissioner Rosa Solis-Rainey repeated the words from the NGCB that the gaming regulators do not want to see the continued requests for a temporary license for the site.

A push from the NGC may encourage Marriott to build a casino hotel or sell the land to someone whot will.

No Plans To Move Forward

The pop-up casino will operate on a 1.35-acre plot of land where The Beach Nightclub once operated.

Marriott operates five hotels on Convention Center Drive between Paradise Road and Las Vegas Boulevard. At this time each hotel has a different brand from the company:

• Courtyard
• Marriott
• Renaissance
• Residence Inn
• Springhill Suites

Altogether, the hotels are on 16 acres of land. The only land in the area not owned by Marriott is where Piero’s Italian Cuisine restaurant operates.

Dennis Neilander was the legal representative on hand for Marriott at the NGC and NGCB meetings. He wasn’t able to share too much information about the land as he has a non-disclosure agreement with the hotel operator.

He did tell both committees the company hasn’t been able to sell the land for two reasons.

First, the COVID-19 pandemic made a deal difficult.

Second, the company is dealing with a “rough economy.”

Neilander didn’t give a reason there wasn’t a plan prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The company previously disclosed it considered integrating the properties into one with gaming included. One snag in the plan could be that Piero’s sits between some of the land owned by Marriott.

Neilander nor Marriott have commented on coming up with a plan to move forward. The company has 18 months to come up with a new idea for the land.

If the land isn’t sold or redeveloped in the next year and a half expect to hear about another request for a pop-up casino on this plot of land again in 2025.