Fontainebleau Las Vegas Begins Hiring Spree in Anticipation of December 2023 Opening

Posted on: May 2, 2023, 05:23h. 

Last updated on: May 2, 2023, 07:12h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

Fontainebleau Las Vegas is hiring resort employees 18 years after the Strip casino was first envisioned.

Fontainebleau Las Vegas Strip casino resort
Fontainebleau Las Vegas is nearing completion nearly two decades after the Strip casino complex was first imagined. The forthcoming casino is seeking thousands of hospitality and gaming workers before the resort is set to open in December 2023. (Image: ResortX)

The towering 67-story blue structure that has been a Strip eyesore and a lingering reminder of the 2008 Great Recession is finally nearing completion. The casino and resort suffered repeated construction interruptions because of ownership changes and funding gaps.

Koch Real Estate Investments (KREI), an entity controlled by Koch Industries, a privately held multinational conglomerate based in Wichita owned by billionaire Charles Koch, acquired the Strip project in early 2021 for an undisclosed sum.

With KREI backed by Koch, one of the world’s richest men, banks have been much more willing to lend the project the necessary capital to complete the development. Koch is currently worth an estimated $59 billion.

In December, KREI announced that it secured $2.2 billion to finish the Fontainebleau. The funding is bankrolled by JPMorgan Chase, SMBC, Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies, Goldman Sachs, Guggenheim Partners, and VICI Properties. VICI is a real estate investment trust controlled by Caesars Entertainment.

Fontainebleau Backstory

Soon after KREI bought the Fontainebleau Las Vegas, the company brought back Fontainebleau Development and Jeffrey Soffer.

Soffer’s father, Donald Suffer, founded the real estate development firm Turnberry Associates in 1967. Turnberry bought the iconic Fontainebleau Miami Beach in 2005 for $165 million.

Fontainebleau Miami Beach is one of the most historically and architecturally significant hotels in Miami and was one of the first integrated resorts in the US where the developers sought to create a destination where travelers wouldn’t have to leave during their stays.

The younger Soffer sought to take the Fontainebleau brand west to Las Vegas. But the recession resulted in Turnberry declaring bankruptcy on the project in June 2009, just seven months after the hotel tower was topped off in November 2008.

The development changed hands several times before landing in Koch’s real estate portfolio.

With the $2.2 billion needed to finish the resort, Koch and Fontainebleau Development are readying to welcome their first guests on the Strip. But the property needs to hire thousands of employees before the casino can open, planned for this December.

Members, Not Employees

In a press release provided to Casino.org, reps from Fontainebleau Las Vegas say the resort’s hiring portal officially opened today at careers.fblasvegas.com. The recruitment center provides an array of information for interested applicants.

Fontainebleau officials say they’re hiring “members,” not employees.

The launch of the site represents another milestone for the 67-story luxury resort, and in the coming months, thousands of hospitality professionals will become part of the inaugural Fontainebleau Las Vegas team. As they play a vital role in both the resort’s success and the preservation of the Fontainebleau legacy, employees are referred to as members – signifying Fontainebleau Las Vegas’ culture-first approach, where members are empowered to discover their passions, express their talents, and continually learn,” the presser explained.

The statement did not specify precisely how many positions need to be filled. But Resorts World Las Vegas, the most recent from-the-ground-up casino to open on the Strip, commenced its own operations in June 2021 with a workforce totaling more than 6,000 positions.