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Spanish Trail Crime

April 25, 2010 By

Crime is an unfortunate fact of life in modern day America, but there are a number of ways to mitigate your exposure to it. The most obvious step is to live in an area where there is statistical evidence of low crime, and another is to live in a guard gated community. Spanish Trail delivers both of these benefits, and is thus a preferred choice of the safety conscious. Every house in Spanish Trail is equipped with an alarm which is connected to the 24 hours on-site security team. You will see the private security pick-up trucks driving around at all times, and they have a very rapid response time when alarms go off. Despite this Spanish Trail crime exists.

It is important to remain vigilant even within Spanish Trail’s walls. Walls can be scaled, alarms can be neutralized, and many people come and go to visit the Country Club that the community is built around. If you become complacent and don’t used your alarm then you are taking an unnecessary risk. Whilst Spanish Trail crime is rare there have been a number of high profile cases.

In 1993 casino magnet Steve Wynn’s daughter was kidnapped at gunpoint from here home and held on a $1.45m ransom. The ransom for daughter Kevyn Wynn was paid and she was released unharmed. The not so smart kidnapper was promptly caught after paying cash for a Ferrari in California. Three men were jailed in all: Ray Cuddy, Jacob Sherwood.

Professional poker player Hoyt Corkins had his Spanish Trail home burgled, and the thieves calmly exited the community with two of his cars, a motorbike, poker memorabilia and electronics. Corkins’ irreplaceable World Series of Poker bracelet and World Poker Tour bracelet were taken.

These are reminders to take care even in the safe enclave of Spanish Trail. Since some people have empty second homes in the community, and others are incredibly wealthy, it can be a target of some criminals despite its tight security.

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Las Vegas and the 90s Boom

March 23, 2010 By

The Mirage Hotel opened on 22nd November 1989, and the Strip has never been the same since. Whilst Las Vegas Boulevard had seen mega-resorts before, such as Kirk Kerkorian’s International and MGM, a young Steve Wynn raised the stakes with his Mirage and started a trend that transformed 1990s Las Vegas.

Steve Wynn’s Vegas career started in the 1960s when he took a minority stake in the Frontier Hotel and made a dollar and a cent as a liquor distributor. It was as manager of Downtown’s Golden Nugget in the 1970s that he really cut his teeth in the casino business. He went on to build a Golden Nugget in Atlantic City, and next came the Mirage.

The Mirage is a 3,000 room casino hotel, notable for a man-made volcano that stops people in their tracks as they walk past. As soon as it was launched the hotel started grossing a million bucks a day, and Wynn’s reputation for delivering outstanding product was cemented. The high quality of service, design and build quality are what set the Mirage apart from the casinos that had gone before it.

William Bennett is another important figure in 1990s Las Vegas. After buying Jay Sarno’s Circus Circus and turning it into a cash cow he went on to build the 4,000 room Excalibur. Aimed at a lower market segment than that Wynn was chasing, it became an instant hit when it opened seven months after the Mirage.

At this stage in the Strip’s evolution it was time for Kirk Kerkorian to step back into the fray, and he did so in style by building a new 5005 room MGM Grand. This one billion dollar project opened in 1993 and went after all market segments with success. At the same time as Kerkorian was working on MGM, Wynn was building Treasure Island, and Bennett was developing the Luxor. Between them these three men were transforming the Strip. The tail end of 1993 was dramatic indeed: 9th October, Luxor opens; 27th October, Treasure Island opens; 18th December, MGM Grand opens.

These hotels recognized that Las Vegas visitors were no longer gambling-focused men, but families looking for entertainment of all types. With this new broader market to tap, new hotels continued to be built through the 1990s: Excalibur (1990), Rio (1990), Luxor (1993), MGM Grand (1993), Treasure Island (1993), Hard Rock (1995), Monte Carlo (1996), Stratosphere (1996), New York, New York (1997), Bellagio (1998), Mandalay Bay (1999), Paris (1999), Venetian (1999), new Aladdin (2000). 1990s Las Vegas. What a decade.

Related articles: Las Vegas Strip Condos

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Boxer, Pilot, Mogul. The Kerkorian Story.

March 23, 2010 By

The founders of the Strip, Thomas Hull (opened El Rancho Vegas in April 1941) and R.E. Griffith (opened in October 1942), have long since been forgotten ,and remain in the shadows of flamboyant developer-showmen like Bugsy, Jay Sarno and Steve Wynn. Another major figure in the Strip’s modern transformation is Kirk Kerkorian, of MGM Kerkorian fame.

Kerkorian was an amateur boxer with a 29-4 record, before becoming a commercial pilot in 1941. After serving with Canada’s Royal Air Force during the war he went on to become a plane dealer, and eventually start his own airline. After selling Trans International Airlines for $104 million in 1968 he started investing in Vegas. Kerkorian had already invested in the Dunes by this time, and flipped 80 acres of land to Sarno’s Caesar’s Palace, but as his airline cash came in he wanted to place some bigger bets on Vegas.

In 1967 Kerkorian bought 82 acres on Paradise Road, and the Flamingo. By 1969 he had built and opened The International, a 30-storey hotel with 1,500 rooms and a 30,000 square feet casino. Maintaining his trading track record Kerkorian sold both The International and the Flamingo to Hilton Hotels a year later. The International set the standard for the mega-resorts to come, both in terms of scale and layout.

Next came the MGM Grand in 1973, which Kerkorian built in 1973 right next to the Flamingo. It was instantly the most stylish of the Strip hotels. Hardly surprising given the $104 million that was invested in this 2,100 room spectacle. Unfortunately the MGM Kerkorian hotel was engulfed in flames in 1980, killing 87 people. Although the hotel was rebuilt eight months later, Kerkorian’s plans for further expansion were on hold. The next phase of the Strip’s development belonged to Steve Wynn.

Further reading:

Read about Las Vegas Strip Condos.

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