Panning for Gold

Golden Nugget Addition InjectsEconomic Stimulus Into Downtown

Golden Nugget’s 25-story Rush Tower is the first new hotel tower in years for downtown Las Vegas.

By Tony Illia

The 270-ft-tall Rush Tower will add 500 rooms to the Golden Nugget in downtown Las Vegas when it opens this November. (Photo courtesy The PENTA Building Group)

Downtown Las Vegas is getting an economic boost from a $150-million expansion at the venerable Golden Nugget at 129 E. Fremont St.

The 63-year-old hotel and casino will open the 500-room Rush Tower on Nov. 20. The 25-story Rush Tower, which is located at the northwest end of the 7.5-acre property, will bring the Golden Nugget’s total room count to 2,416.

“This is the first major ground-up hotel tower built in downtown since the ’80s,” says Golden Nugget spokesman Justin McVay. “As far as large events, like those at World Market Center, we will be able to hold more people, giving us a competitive advantage for those visitors expecting a higher level of amenities.”

The 270-ft-tall Rush Tower’s guestrooms will be 439 sq ft to 1,326 sq ft in size, making them 20% larger than Golden Nugget’s current standard North and South Tower rooms. Amenities include 42-in. flat-screen plasma TVs, leather sectional couches and feather-down comforters.

The 476,600-sq-ft expansion, which broke ground in April 2008, is creating 350 construction jobs. Las Vegas-based PENTA Building Group, the general contractor, has a $117-million guaranteed maximum price contract.

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Designed by Houston-based Kirksey Architecture, the cast-in-place tower wrapped in glass and EIFS is expected to create hundreds of more jobs upon completion, amplifying its economic importance amid several recession-related project delays and cancellations. Golden Nugget’s building’s plan nearly faced a similar fate as the owner considered pulling the plug amid the recession, but judicious cost control allowed the project to progress.

“We worked with the owner early on to meet their budget,” says Trevor Dishon, PENTA senior project manager. “They’re very conscious of getting the most bang for their buck.”

The high-rise, on 0.75 acres, has a zero lot line with a 214- by 147-ft footprint. The tower rests atop a foundation of 248 drilled pilings, 3 ft in diameter and 90 ft deep, equaling 44 mi in combined length. The structure’s post-tensioned, 16,900-sq-ft floor plates are supported by a 28-ft column grid, with added bracing from shear-wall elevator and stairwell corridors.

Three upper floors are being shelled out for future growth. The project, which will use 30,000 cu yds of concrete supplied by Las Vegas-based Nevada Ready Mix Inc., used a column-hung, self-climbing form system that reduced form crew labor by half.

The cast-in-place concrete, EIFS and glass tower was designed by Kirksey Architecture. Parking occupies three levels, while retail, restaurant and casino space occupy the first floor. The top three floors will be shelled out for future development. (Photo courtesy The PENTA Building Group)

“There was absolutely no space for staging,” says Randy Corwin, PENTA area field manager, noting all deliveries were made for materials used the same day. “It took some coordination to maintain truck access into the site. Casinos don’t shut down. They operate 24-7.”

The Rush Tower adds a three-level, 187-space valet garage, with its own porte-cochere entrance off First and Main streets. It houses a mini central plant with two 525-ton chillers and two 10,000-cfm boilers. Air handlers and a cooling tower are mounted on the roof.

Parking is located between tower levels two through five, while three retail stores totaling 4,000 sq ft occupy the ground level. Run by Houston-based Landry’s Restaurants Inc., Golden Nugget’s owner, the shops consist of a sundries store, jewelry outlet and clothing boutique.

The first floor also additionally has gaming tables and slot machines as well as a 5,700-sq-ft Chart House Aquarium Restaurant, with a 50,000-gallon tropical aquarium visible from the lobby. Other main-floor features consist of ceiling soffits, indirect colored lighting and a dramatic 71.5-ft-long, serpentine chandelier, created from 10,000 individual crystal pieces.

The project includes a dramatic serpentine chandelier created from 10,000 crystal pieces. It stretches for more than 70 ft until coiling into a 20-ft-diameter centerpiece over the tower’s new reservation desk. (Rendering courtesy Golden Nugget)

Rush Tower amenities consist of a 6,000-sq-ft outdoor pool deck on the east side of level five, with covered lounge areas, six cabanas and a bar. The 900-sq-ft, 3-ft-deep rectangular splash pool ties into The Tank, a $30-million existing swimming pool complex with a 200,000-gallon aquarium containing 300 marine animals, including six species of sharks and stingrays. Opened in 2007, The Tank also has a three-story, enclosed waterslide, plus seven additional cabanas and another bar.

Golden Nugget, meanwhile, is creating a new main archway entrance at First and Carson streets, with $1 million in streetscape improvements that include palm trees, shrubs, stamped concrete sidewalks and lighting. The 1.3-million-sq-ft property’s exterior is getting a makeover, too, with new paint and signage.

“We think it’s going to be a perfect fit for downtown,” McVay says.

Key Players

Owner: Landry’s Restaurants Inc.
Architect: Kirksey Architecture
General Contractor: The PENTA Building Group
Engineers: JBA Consulting Engineers; John A. Martin & Associates; Martin & Martin Civil Engineers
Subcontractors: Quality Mechanical; Mojave Electric; KHS&S; Steel Engineers; Vergith Contracting

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