LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – The Harlem Nights casino proposed for the Historic Westside of Las Vegas has had a tough go of it.
The building now occupying the property caught fire in 2023, but that incident posed developer Shlomo Meiri less trouble than he’s had getting his plan approved by the Las Vegas Planning Commission.
In May, the commission once again denied Meiri’s plans and sent him and his team back to the drawing board to revamp and revise.
But when he returned Wednesday, his luck before the commission did not change. City leaders did not give him the approvals he was looking for.
The problem: Lawmakers and Meiri don’t seem to share a common vision.
In fact it became clear they see the project through a completely different lenses. Those contrasting images led to some dramatic clashes.
“Mr. Meiri… Mr. Meiri… I don’t want to do this, but I’m going to have the marshals…”
“She told me at the office. I don’t care about your religion. I don’t wanna help you. I’d have nothing to do with you. And now she’s talking about highly…”
“Mr. Meiri, I’m going to have the marshals escort you out…”
“I’m going out alone. Cancel it, please. You’re gonna own the Westside forever. Goodbye.”
That exchange with Las Vegas Mayor Shelley Berkley came as the developer’s team presented their plans to the commission.
The city and Meiri do not see eye-to-eye. The city’s looking for a place for locals, the developer wants more.
“I… there is nothing we can do about it unless it makes money. I’m here to make money. So nobody with his right mind will be at a casino with seven stories and 100 hotel rooms,” Meiri said. “And nobody with his blank mind will build a casino for a community that averaged $36,000 a year. The community needs to be the service, not the customer.”
This is the second time the developer’s come to the planning commission with very similar plans.
In May, they told him to reduce the number of floors and make the design suit the surrounding neighborhood, but today he returned with very few changes. His original plans called for 64 stories. The revised plan cuts the floors in half, but the commission wants him to go even lower.
Mayor Berkley said the city has tried to make its desires clear.
“I’m very anxious to develop the Historic Westside. It’s a promise that I’ve made and you and I have met on numerous occasions to talk about it. It is a very exciting project, but from the first time that we talked about this, when I was a candidate until now there has been very little progress on bringing the Community into this proposal and this dream,” she told him.
Councilmember Olivia Diaz says the neighborhood wants the project. It promises jobs and other economic benefits. However, neighbors hope for something a little more low-key.
“I think that no one on this council would be opposed to the development of the site if we felt it was harmonious and compatible, if we felt it was a mid-rise development,” she told Meiri. “I just look up at the stories that the intensity of everything that wants to be erected there, and we do have to be responsible and respectful of everything that currently exists and make sure that we’re making the best foot forward, so…”
But the developer refused to compromise further.
“I give you the property for free. There is nothing can be done if there in seven stories. I don’t want to be involved. The church — I’m not going to buy it and this is all going to fall out.”
Ward 5 Councilwoman Shondra Summers-Armstrong told the developer he’s missing the point.
“I think that we have to recognize that no one project is going to create the revitalization that this Community needs, because when this Community was doing well during segregation, no one establishment provided everything that the Community needed; this is a collaborative effort.”
The developer then threatened to pull out of the project and take his gaming license with him.
Summers-Armstrong was quick to respond.
“I’m here to do a job. People voted for me. They have are trying to have, I’m trying to build faith in this community by being present and attentive and listening to what the community is saying and they’ve spoken on numerous occasions and they are not comfortable with this development. They are not comfortable with the threats, and I am offended by the threats, and threats don’t work well with me.”
Shortly after that exchange, Meiri left his team at the podium and made his abrupt departure. They told the city they’re willing to investigate making the modifications, but say if the developer quits the project, he also takes the funding with him.
When FOX5 spoke with Meiri after the meeting, he said city leaders don’t understand business, but declined to comment on what comes next.
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