COVID-19 andemic upheaval paces top business stories of 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic wasn’t done with Southern Nevada erstwhile 2020 ended. ■ Pardon the pun, but section businesses endured caller strains with idiosyncratic shortages and supply-chain problems replacing panic buying and hoarding. ■ That was 2021’s apical concern communicative arsenic chosen by the Las Vegas Review-Journal concern staff. ■ Here’s however we ranked the remainder of the apical stories.

1Businesses endure idiosyncratic shortages, upheaval from pandemic.

Businesses fortunate capable to past the pandemic with its forced shutdowns and perpetually changing COVID-19 information mandates were excited to invited backmost locals and tourists.

But galore of Nevada’s concern owners rapidly faced caller headwinds — a idiosyncratic shortage and supply-chain issues.

While the panic buying and hoarding of immoderate products, specified arsenic toilet paper, disinfectant wipes and shelf-stable foods similar ramen and cereal were prevalent successful aboriginal 2020, supply-chain issues stemming from imported goods were the large problems successful 2021.

Lumber was successful abbreviated proviso for homebuilders. Anything with a microchip was delayed. Buyers of caller cars had to hold months for delivery.

The challenges meant higher payroll and operating costs arsenic businesses, peculiarly restaurants, competed for workers and supplies. Many are inactive feeling the strain.

And, arsenic cases of the omicron variant increase, economists are saying those problems could persist good into adjacent year.

2Casino properties alteration hands successful a burst of deals.

You needed a scorecard to support way of the fig of times edifice companies and existent property concern trusts shuffled the ownership platform successful Las Vegas.

Most of the deals were analyzable and required the support of regulators to close. For that reason, portion respective deals were announced successful 2021, astir won’t beryllium completed until 2022 oregon beyond. Here’s a summary of the biggest deals:

■ In March, New York-based Apollo Global Management Inc., which is partnering with Vici Properties Inc., New York, announced it is buying The Venetian, Palazzo and the Venetian Expo Center for $6.25 billion. The woody is expected to adjacent aboriginal adjacent year.

■ In April, Bally’s Corp. announced it was buying the cognition of the Tropicana from Penn National Gaming Corp. for $308 million. Penn REIT affiliate Gaming &Leisure Properties Inc. would proceed to ain the existent estate. The woody is expected to adjacent successful aboriginal 2022. The Tropicana has been reported arsenic a imaginable tract for a shot stadium for the Oakland Athletics, which has been fixed support from Major League Baseball to research a imaginable relocation to Las Vegas.

■ In May, the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians acquired the Palms for $650 cardinal from Red Rock Resorts, genitor institution of Station Casinos. The people was licensed, and the woody was closed this month, but the Palms won’t reopen until spring.

■ In July, MGM Resorts International announced it was selling the Aria and Vdara successful CityCenter for astir $3.9 cardinal and would rent them backmost successful a existent property concern spot woody with the Blackstone Group.

■ In August, Caesars Entertainment Inc. spouse Vici Properties unveiled a $17 billion-plus acquisition of a chap casino landlord, MGM Resorts spinoff MGM Growth Properties, giving Vici existent property ownership of galore of the biggest hotel-casinos connected the Strip.

■ In September, New York fiscal conglomerate Blackstone announced it is selling The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas for $5.65 billion, astir $4 cardinal much than its acquisition terms successful 2014. As portion of the sale, MGM Resorts is acquiring the Cosmo’s operations broadside for much than $1.6 billion.

■ In November, the archetypal developer of the Fontainebleau project, Jeffrey Soffer, announced helium was buying retired Marriott International for the 67-story spot connected the northbound Strip. Soffer is partnering with the existent property helping of Kansas conglomerate Koch Industries connected the woody and expects to unfastened the doors of the three-quarters finished spot successful 2023.

■ This month, the Seminole Tribe of Florida’s Hard Rock International announced it is buying The Mirage for $1.075 billion. The woody should adjacent successful the second fractional of 2022.

Next successful enactment for caller development, but without a transaction, is Station Casinos, which archetypal announced successful May that it would walk $750 cardinal to make a caller locals spot successful southwest Las Vegas disconnected Durango Drive.

3Southern Nevada’s lodging marketplace breaks records.

Las Vegas’ lodging marketplace heated up successful 2021 arsenic income acceptable records astir each month.

The median income terms of antecedently owned single-family homes — the bulk of the marketplace — was $420,000 successful November. That was up 2.4 percent, oregon $10,000, from the erstwhile grounds acceptable successful October and 21.7 percent from November of past year, according to reports from commercialized relation Las Vegas Realtors.

Buyers picked up 3,273 houses successful November, up 6.4 percent from October and 7.8 percent from November 2020.

At the aforesaid time, Southern Nevada’s inventory of disposable listings shrank.

A full of 2,805 single-family houses were connected the marketplace without offers astatine the extremity of November, down 14.7 percent from October and 25.3 percent twelvemonth implicit year, the relation reported.

Southern Nevada’s lodging marketplace heated up this twelvemonth with accelerated income and grounds prices, acknowledgment mostly to rock-bottom owe rates that person fto buyers agelong their budgets.

Las Vegas has besides seen a higher-than-usual tally of out-of-state buyers, including from much costly markets, arsenic radical sought much abstraction amid wide work-from-home arrangements.

Overall, buyers person showered properties with offers and routinely paid implicit the asking price, and median income prices person been mounting all-time highs practically each month.

4State gaming triumph connected gait for a grounds streak.

In March, the Nevada Gaming Control Board reported the state’s casinos won $1.06 cardinal from players.

Then successful April, they won $1.04 billion. And truthful on, and truthful on, done October.

The eight-month streak of gaming wins tied a grounds for the fig of consecutive months triumph has exceeded $1 billion, acceptable from October 2006 to May 2007. Win totals are important due to the fact that that’s the magnitude taxed and directed into the state’s wide fund.

The nationalist volition larn Wednesday whether the 2021 tally volition interruption the 15-year-old record. That’s erstwhile the Control Board volition denote triumph statistic from November.

The gaming triumph streak has been caused by pent-up request from tourists wanting to dainty themselves aft being cooped up by the COVID-19 pandemic and an abundance of peculiar events successful Las Vegas that person drawn radical to municipality – Raiders’ games and large concerts astatine Allegiant Stadium, large boxing and mixed-martial arts matches, the National Finals Rodeo, ample festivals including Life Is Beautiful and Electric Daisy Carnival and 3 casino properties that opened this twelvemonth and 1 that opened conscionable 2 months earlier 2021 arrived.

5Virgin Hotels, Resorts World Las Vegas unfastened their doors.

Those casino properties that opened this twelvemonth that weren’t present past twelvemonth included Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, which opened its 1,504 rooms connected March 25, and Resorts World Las Vegas, which added its 3,506 rooms connected June 24. A third, Circa, opened its casino Oct. 28, 2020.

Virgin Hotels, the erstwhile tract of the off-Strip Hard Rock Hotel, is owned by JC Hospitality and Virgin Hotels with its casino managed by Mohegan Sun Entertainment — the archetypal Indian people to beryllium licensed for a commercialized casino successful the state. Hilton Worldwide manages the lodging for Virgin Hotels Las Vegas arsenic portion of Hilton’s Curio Collection.

Hilton besides is simply a large subordinate astatine Resorts World with 3 brands housed successful its towers. The $4.3 cardinal Resorts World, owned and managed by the Malaysia-based Genting Group, was the archetypal Strip edifice to unfastened since 2010.

Resorts World besides has a 5,000-seat theatre that is location to 4 amusement residences, Katy Perry, Luke Bryan, Carrie Underwood and Celine Dion, and a 100,000-square-foot video screen, 1 of the largest successful the world, connected the south-facing broadside of the resort.

6Las Vegas Sands Chairman Sheldon Adelson dies.

Adelson, who roseate from selling newspapers connected Boston thoroughfare corners astatine property 12 to 1 of the astir palmy luxury edifice developers, philanthropists and governmental influencers of his generation, died Jan. 11 astatine his location successful Malibu, California. He was 87.

Adelson founded and served arsenic president and CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp., the world’s largest gaming corporation, from its inception successful 1988. He had been connected aesculapian permission from the institution earlier successful January to resume his combat against non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which helium had battled since 2019.

In a statement, Sands said Adelson died from complications related to attraction for non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Under Adelson’s leadership, Las Vegas Sands pioneered the integrated edifice exemplary that present dominates the Strip, combining luxury hotel-casinos with normal centers.

Former Chief Operating Officer Rob Goldstein took implicit arsenic CEO and is carrying retired Adelson’s program to merchantability the company’s Las Vegas assets for $6.25 cardinal to Apollo Global Management Inc. and spouse Vici Properties Inc., some of New York. The institution volition absorption connected its existent operations successful Macao and Singapore and determination toward processing caller imaginable home markets successful Texas, Florida and New York.

7Conventions marque their instrumentality to Southern Nevada.

The instrumentality started with World of Concrete successful June and was highlighted by a monolithic turnout with the Specialty Equipment Market Association successful November.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority prepared for months for the instrumentality of conventions, commercialized shows and meetings and made a splash June 8 with a ceremonial attended by Gov. Steve Sisolak successful the Las Vegas Convention Center’s caller West Hall.

Five months later, SEMA — a commercialized amusement for aftermarket car products — claimed the crown arsenic the champion attended normal of 2021 erstwhile it drew 114,000 radical to the city, by acold the largest of the year.

8Two Indian tribes licensed for casinos by state.

History was made successful March erstwhile Mohegan Gaming &Entertainment, operated by Connecticut’s Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, opened the casino level astatine Virgin Hotels Las Vegas and became the archetypal tribal entity to person a commercialized gaming licence successful the state. Regulators approved the licensing successful October 2020, but it wasn’t until March that Virgin opened the spot and the people became the resort’s casino operators.

In December this year, a 2nd people was licensed successful the state, the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians of Southern California. The people plans to reopen the Palms adjacent outpouring aft purchasing it from Station Casinos.

A 3rd people is expected to get successful Southern Nevada successful 2022 aft Florida’s Seminole Tribe announced that its Hard Rock International cognition is buying The Mirage. If successfully licensed, it would go the archetypal tribal entity to run connected the Strip.

9Convention Center West Hall, Boring tunnels open.

The $1 cardinal West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center officially opened its doors June 8 to footwear disconnected the World of Concrete commercialized show.

Inside the three-story gathering is simply a 600,000-square-foot grounds hallway and 80 gathering rooms that scope successful size from 18,000 quadrate feet to 700 quadrate feet. There’s besides a nutrient tribunal and an outdoor terrace with views of the Strip.

The caller hallway whitethorn not adjacent beryllium the astir talked-about diagnostic of the building. The Convention Center Loop, a $52.5 cardinal underground transit strategy utilizing Tesla vehicles successful 2-mile-long parallel tunnels, opened astatine the aforesaid clip arsenic the West Hall. The strategy is designed to shuttle conventioneers from 1 extremity of the Convention Center to the other.

Developed by Elon Musk’s The Boring Co., the conception is being expanded done the remainder of the city. Boring is successful the aboriginal stages of gathering the Vegas Loop, a strategy of 15 miles of tunnels that would service the edifice corridor, Allegiant Stadium and Harry Reid International Airport.

10Millions of dollars astatine involvement successful solution of Tony Hsieh estate.

The aboriginal of erstwhile Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh’s luck isn’t adjacent to being determined, but household members handling his property accidental his Scotch 80s luxury property volition soon beryllium sold.

Attorneys for Hsieh’s household filed papers successful December successful his Clark County District Court probate lawsuit showing the sprawling location astatine 1250 Shadow Lane is being sold for $2.1 cardinal to Pui Chu Yee.

Hsieh, who died from injuries suffered successful a Connecticut location occurrence successful November 2020, didn’t person a will, and galore person filed claims alleging they’re owed wealth from the estate.

Hsieh was the look of downtown Las Vegas’ revival. In 2012, helium launched a broadside task primitively called Downtown Project to put $350 cardinal into the Fremont Street area, and successful 2013, helium moved Zappos from a Henderson bureau parkland to the erstwhile Las Vegas City Hall. He besides had go 1 of downtown’s biggest spot owners done his downtown venture’s existent property buying binge, assembling a portfolio of flat complexes, retail and bureau buildings, shuttered motels and vacant lots.

The Review-Journal is owned by the household of Dr. Miriam Adelson, widow of Sheldon Adelson and the bulk shareholder of Las Vegas Sands Corp., which operates The Venetian and Palazzo.

Contact Richard N. Velotta astatine rvelotta@reviewjournal.com oregon 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta connected Twitter. Review-Journal adjunct concern exertion Subrina Hudson and unit writer Eli Segall contributed to this story.