At a city council meeting on 21 August, Kyle Sutherland, director of development for real estate owner and developer Fisher Brothers, said (via Las Vegas Weekly): “Area15 is fast becoming recognized as a premier destination for creatives to showcase their intellectual property at a physical location.

“The success of Area15 has led to further interest in expansion of the Area15 district directly to the north. We envision the district will become a premier immersive entertainment and retail district in the country and even in the world.”

Area15, a joint venture between Fisher Brothers and creative agency Beneville Studios, opened in 2020 and has become a major attraction for immersive and experiential entertainment.

Images courtesy of Area15

For the expansion, Fisher Brothers is planning a 200-room hotel, 518,000 square feet of retail space, and 320,000 square feet of office space.

The anchor tenant will be a year-round attraction from Universal Destinations & Experiences called Horror Unleashed.

Sutherland told council members: “There is a challenge to developing as we have planned. The location is currently served by aging infrastructure intended for lower-density uses. There were lots of single-story buildings.

“And now, we’re proposing more dense development and additional stories to those buildings. The development would require an upgrade to this infrastructure and that upgrade is a major project.”

New immersive experiences at Area15

To fund the project, Fisher Brothers has asked the Las Vegas City Council to create a tourism improvement district (TID). The council has voted unanimously to adopt a resolution to move forward with this process.

“Approval of the TID will allow Fisher Brothers to invest in infrastructure necessary to maximize the potential of the site for the benefit of both the project and the City of Las Vegas,” a Fisher Brothers spokesperson told Las Vegas Weekly in an email.

Dina Babsky, deputy director of economic and urban development for the City of Las Vegas, said the Nevada Commission on Tourism will hold a public hearing on the proposed TID for Area15 on 11 September.

After this, the city council is expected to introduce an ordinance in October to establish the tourism improvement district.

The article was originally published on blooloop

Authored by Bea Mitchell