An executive with Hard Rock Las Vegas, up for licensing in Nevada and appearing before gaming regulators, provided an update on the construction of the resort that will open in 2027, saying the project is on time and that behind-the-scenes work is underway to prepare for the opening.
Frank Cassella, senior vice president of finance, answered questions about the project Wednesday from the Nevada Gaming Control Board, which recommended his licensing when the Nevada Gaming Commission meets later this month.
Hard Rock International, which is owned by the Seminole Tribe of Florida, acquired the Mirage operations in December 2022 from MGM Resorts International for $1 billion. It shuttered the property and its 3,000-room resort in July 2024 to make way for a redesigned resort that fits the Hard Rock brand identiry.
Demolition started last summer to pave the way for the redevelopment that will see a 700-plus-foot guitar-shaped tower along the Strip. Hard Rock CEO Jim Allen has already said the project will cost $4 billion to $5 billion.
“We’re looking forward to opening Hard Rock Las Vegas,” Cassella told Board members. “Everything is on time and on schedule.”
The construction began immediately after closure in July and today it’s a full construction zone, Cassella told the Board. There are some trailers behind the Mirage used by security staff along with some finance and accounting personnel.
“Immediately after, a large focus was getting the property liquidated of the furniture,” Cassella said. “That’s happened and construction is progressing very positively. Most of the work is still in its demolition phase. You can see the volcano has been demolished and torn out. You can see most of the front drive is a construction zone. Most of the pilings have gone up for the new guitar tower, which is going to be more than 700-feet tall with 650 suites.”
There will be a full redesign of the 3,000-room Mirage tower, a redesign of the casino, a redesign of the pool, and there will be an additional pool for the guitar tower, Cassella said.
Currently, Cassella said his time is spent with budget forecasting for the pre-opening and developing staffing, purchasing and tasking compendiums. When it opens in 2027, he said he will be responsible for finance operations.
“For several months after we closed and even now there’s quite a bit of post-closure activities that took place whether it had to do with liquidation of the property and getting everything cleaned out. We accepted chips at Treasure Island for 120 days, and we’re still accepting TITO tickets. We had our closing audit from the Gaming Control Board. We are undergoing a year-end audit right now with Deloitte. We had internal audits to get done. There was quite a bit of post-closure activity related to the operations, and now we’re slowly shifting to reopening efforts and staffing compendiums. We’re meeting with departments to develop organizational charts for the opening and compendiums for purchasing.”
Cassella, a Las Vegas native, moved to Pennsylvania and attended Penn State University where he earned a degree in accounting. He went to work for KPMG in New York and later moved back to Las Vegas where he joined PriceWaterhouseCoopers and got involved in the gaming industry doing audits for tribal and commercial casinos. In 2006 he joined Wynn Resorts in corporate finance and in 2013 went to Macau to serve as a senior vice president and CFO for Wynn and Encore Macau. He was there for five years where he assisted in the opening of Wynn Palace.
Cassella returned to the U.S. and was part of the team that opened Encore Boston Harbor in 2019, where he was responsible for finance operations. He left Wynn and joined Hard Rock in Florida as part of their corporate finance team and was later given a chance to return to Las Vegas to be part of the Mirage’s acquisition and operation.
