LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Developers and executives at Hard Rock International are getting closer to the start of construction on a massive, guitar-shaped hotel tower on the Las Vegas Strip.
Hard Rock International revealed plans for the hotel after acquiring operating rights for The Mirage Hotel & Casino last year.
In planning documents obtained by Channel 13 this week, the company laid out its preliminary approach to constructing the 600-foot hotel structure.
The guitar-shaped hotel will replace The Mirage's volcano experience on the northeast side of the property, closest to Las Vegas Boulevard.
Once complete, the structure is expected to contain 660 hotel suites, 48,000 square feet of gaming area and 96,000 square feet of retail and restaurants at ground level, planning documents state.
"There will also be amenities to include pool, spa, fitness center and salon as well as other amenities," developers stated.
The Clark County Commission is expected to review the plans in an upcoming zoning meeting on Aug. 16.
Klai Juba Wald Architecture + Interiors, the Las Vegas-based firm designing the new hotel, previously designed a similar guitar-shaped hotel tower for Hard Rock International in Hollywood, Florida.
The firm is responsible for a range of well-known resort-casino projects on and off the Strip, including the old Hard Rock Las Vegas — now Virgin Hotels Las Vegas — according to its website.
At 600 feet, the guitar-shaped hotel would become one of the tallest buildings on the Las Vegas Strip — as tall as the Aria Resort Casino and 10 feet shorter than the twin Cosmopolitan towers.
The Mirage, opened in 1989 by casino mogul Steve Wynn, was one of the first mega-resorts on the Strip and once boasted iconic tiger-taming magicians Siegfried & Roy as headliners.
Hard Rock International paid $1.075 billion for operating assets of The Mirage and entered into a long-term lease agreement with VICI Properties Inc., which owns the real estate the casino sits on.
The resort will operate as The Mirage until renovation and rebranding is complete, the company stated previously.
As part of the transition, Hard Rock International announced closures of other longtime attractions at the property, including Siegfried & Roy's Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat, both of which have since been shuttered.
Big cats once on display at the Secret Garden were relocated to animal sanctuaries in Oregon and Texas, Mirage leadership announced in July.
The Mirage's dolphins were relocated to SeaWorld San Diego and a marine park in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.
