N.Y. real estate scion builds casino-free zone for Vegas revelers
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(Bloomberg) — About two miles from the glittery main drag in Las Vegas, a new kind of entertainment destination – one without casinos — is expanding.
Area15, a mall of sorts for all kinds of unusual attractions, kicks off a second phase this month with the Aug. 14 opening of Universal Horror Unleashed, the first year-round haunted house from Comcast Corp.’s theme-park division.
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Horror Unleashed includes a walk through of a windblown cornfield littered with decomposing bodies, a full-scale replica of the house from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and an opportunity to sit and share a cocktail with an actor portraying a vampire queen. Tickets start at $59.
As strange as that might seem, it fits right in with Area15, which has been serving up similarly oddball entertainment since opening in late 2020. The property — a stretch of warehouse-like spaces along Interstate 15 — recently welcomed its 15 millionth visitor, roughly in line with the annual draw of attractions like the Gateway Arch in St. Louis and New York’s Empire State Building.
Area15 is tapping into a “location-based entertainment” industry that’s expected to grow fivefold to $25.9 billion globally by 2030, according to projections from Grand View Research. Among other trends, it’s become a hot spot for Hollywood studios like Universal to open attractions tied to their film and TV properties. Lionsgate Studios Inc. opened one based on its John Wick films at Area15 last March.
The grounds and main building at Area15 are free to enter. Individual activities require an entry ticket. A bundle that includes eight attractions, like an augmented-reality dodgeball game where contestants throw virtual orbs at each other, and Museum Fiasco, a light and sound show, costs $32. The main, two-story building includes shops, restaurants and a zip-line ride that circles the interior. Area15 hosts corporate events and late-night dance parties.
“We’re an entertainment campus,” Winston Fisher, the chief executive officer and main visionary behind Area15, said as he led a visitor through the premises. “We cater to families at 12 noon and ravers at 12 midnight.”
Fisher, 52, is a partner in Fisher Brothers, a New York City-based real estate company with some 9 million square feet of high-end offices, stores and apartments under management that was founded by his grandfather in 1915. The family acquired the Las Vegas land 20 years ago, with the goal of building a casino resort and condo complex. The 2008 financial crisis intervened and Fisher began looking for other ideas.
He settled on leasing space to entertainment companies, inspired a bit by a family amusement center that had occupied part of the property previously.
Area15’s first big tenant was Omega Mart, a creation of the New Mexico-based immersive art company Meow Wolf. In front, Omega Mart looks like a supermarket, with pretend products such as a Gender Fluid energy drink and Honey Clumps of Hmm cereal. Hidden passages in the store take visitors into an entirely different experience: the headquarters of a mysterious company called Dramcorp that promotes a secret ingredient called Additive S. Actors in lab coats are there to answer questions, although nothing is ever really answered.
It all appeals to guests like Sacramento resident Alisa Stonehouse and her husband David, who visited Omega Mart last month after their 12-year-old son found a video about it on YouTube.
“It’s the interactivity” that makes it interesting, she said. “We got in here through the lockers.”
Area15 opened at the start of the pandemic, at just 25% of capacity as mandated by health officials. Some people told Fisher he was crazy for opening at that time, but he saw the slow start as good opportunity test out the concept. Tourism across Las Vegas has slumped again this summer, with visits down by 11% in June and July slow as well, according to casino operators. Area15 has been offering a $15 entry-level pass to boost attendance before the Horror Unleashed opening.
More attractions are coming in the second phase, including an interactive Museum of Ice Cream and Felix & Paul Studios’ Interstellar Arc, a space attraction. There will also be the flagship store of Dolls Kill, a retailer specializing in attire for dance festivals.
The property also has one of the largest collections of “festival art,” large metal sculptures, many of them originating at the annual Burning Man event in Nevada. Fisher recently installed an old Boeing 747 that had been featured at the festival. It will become the centrepiece of an outdoor courtyard and event space.
“There’s a segment here, which we’re also starting to see, which is the affluent underground,” he said. “We’ve done billionaire parties here because they go to Burning Man. They want something cool.”
So far, Fisher has only mapped out plans for less than half of his 80-acre parcel. He declines to disclose the total investment except to say that it’s in the hundreds of millions of dollars, with more to come, including possible attractions tied to sports, anime and what he called the “Western lifestyle.”
And what about the resort hotel that was originally envisioned?
“We are studying that,” Fisher said. “We have some active plans we’re working on.”
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