Sands casino reno

Goodbye, Sands Regency. Hello, J Resort.

Owner Jacobs Entertainment officially debuted the new name of the Sands Regency on Tuesday, part of a multi-year remodeling effort to modernize the longtime hotel-casino.

CEO Jeff Jacobs, whose company bought the hotel-casino in 2017, first told the Reno Gazette Journal that he was considering a rebranding of the Sands Regency in 2019. Since then Jacobs Entertainment has pledged to invest $300 million just for the first phase of the hotel-casino’s revitalization.

More:Jacobs says 1,000-unit workforce housing proposal not dead as land turning into parking lot

Talk about the Sands Regency rebranding heated up again recently after a big “J” sign was installed on the property.

“After five years of land assemblage, design, and construction we are pleased today to announce J Resort, Jacobs Entertainment's flagship property and Nevada’s first art and entertainment-themed resort property,” Jacobs said.

Jacobs’ plans for the property also include the addition of three more towers to the J Resort, which will put his investment on the property to just under a billion dollars, the CEO said. By the time the project is fully completed, Jacobs expects the J Resort to rival hotel-casinos in Las Vegas.

“I see this as a top-tier gaming property in Nevada when it's done,” Jacobs said.

The J Resort will also serve as the linchpin to a new downtown entertainment district called the Reno Neon Line that Jacobs is proposing on West Fourth Street. Jacobs, who owns properties in Colorado and Louisiana and also developed the Nautica Entertainment Complex at Cleveland’s waterfront, described the Neon Line District as the bookend to his career as a developer.

Work on the reimagined Sands Regency started with the Empress tower, which cost $100,000 per room, according to Jacobs. Back in 2019, Jacobs initially stated that he was looking to remodel 820 rooms all in all, including the units at the older Dynasty Tower.

Today, the J Resort development will comprise 750 total rooms, 500 of which will be available immediately, according to Jacobs. The J Resort will also open half of its casino floor, which is undergoing a redesign as well.

“Completing phase one of J Resort and the opening of the adjoining Glow Plaza Festival Grounds mark another chapter of the revitalization of downtown Reno,” said Jonathan Boulware, Jacobs Entertainment’s regional vice president. “It is a chapter of transition from the remnants of the last growth period downtown in the 1960s to a complete makeover currently underway.”

What is included in Phase One of the J Resort remodel?

By June, the first phase of the J Resort remodel should be complete. 

Amenities will include:

• A remodeled casino with more than 600 new gaming positions.
• A new restaurant with outdoor dining called Hanna’s Table.
• Another restaurant called J Paul’s Italian Steakhouse 
• A new space called the Afterglow Lounge
• More than 1,000 surface parking spaces.
• A new digital art wall that features a large display spanning 65 feet. Content for the 24/7 digital art wall will be curated by various digital artists from around the world.

Jacobs will also be adding more art to the property, including a sculpture from Italy that his company has commissioned from artist Richard Erdman. The company has been installing various art displays such as Burning Man sculptures at the West Fourth Street corridor as part of its Reno Neon Line District plans.

What comes after Phase One of the J Resort remodel?

Once the first phase of the J Resort remodel is finished, Jacobs Entertainment will kick off the second phase of the project this summer, which will invest an additional $100 million into the hotel-casino on top of the $300 million from the first phase.

The second phase will add several more amenities, including:

• A high-ceiling extension of the gaming area, including 400 new gaming positions.
• A rooftop swimming pool and spa.
• A sports-themed lounge.
• An Asian food and gaming venue.

There will be another phase after the second one as well, which will include several amenities that Jacobs has previously mentioned in one-on-one interviews with the Reno Gazette Journal.

The additions will include:

• A zip line that will be built 150 feet up in the air.
• A 6,500-seat outdoor amphitheater called “Mountain View.”
• A large day pool located outdoors.
• A Vegas-style indoor showroom with 3,500 seats.
• A dinner theater with 400 seats.
• More than 1,200 additional guest rooms.
• More than 100,000 square feet of conference space.

The project will create more than 2,000 jobs, which reflects the company’s commitment to the area, Jacobs added.

“We doubled down on Reno, and we are pleased that we did,” Jacobs said.

What about the Reno Neon Line District?

While the remodel of the former Sands Regency has been in full swing in recent years, progress for the proposed Reno Neon Line District has not been as speedy.

Plans for the district were first delayed during the pandemic. 

Last year, Jacobs also confirmed that housing development at the Neon Line District — including potential projects by other developers — will be delayed again following recession fears over the economy.

“It will probably be a couple of years before additional development of housing picks up in the district,” Jacobs told the Reno Gazette Journal in October.

The slow progress for housing at the Reno Neon Line District has been especially controversial after Jacobs Entertainment bought and demolished several old motels that it considered blighted. The properties, which Jacobs described as unfit to live in, served as de facto low-income housing for hundreds of residents and families.

Boulware remained unapologetic about the demolition of the old motels. The residents staying in the blighted properties lived “in the most horrific conditions,” including exposure to black mold, according to Boulware. Jacobs Entertainment also provided assistance to tenants who needed help with finding a new place to stay, with the company being able to find new apartments for 95% of the people, Boulware added.

“If that’s the definition of displacement, then you’re damn right we’ll be displacing people all night long,” Boulware said. “We take care of people.”

In response, Jacobs offered several land parcels that his company owns in the downtown corridor for a proposed 1,000-unit workforce housing development. The catch was that the city had to figure out who would develop the project because Jacobs was not interested in building the project himself.

The project, however, has not seen much progress since Jacobs proposed it in January 2022. A big reason would be financing, with an RGJ analysis pegging the cost to build the 1,000-unit project at $300 million — the same as the entirety of the J Resort remodel.

One of the parcels that Jacobs offered for the project is also turning into a parking lot.

Jacobs, however, insists that his plans of turning the Reno Neon Line District into a mixed-use development with entertainment and housing is still a go.

The parking lot can eventually be transitioned into a parking garage for the proposed housing project, according to Jacobs. The CEO added that he is now primarily talking with the city of Reno about his proposal to offer land for housing. Jacobs initially proposed having the Reno Housing Authority take charge of finding funding sources and developing the project. The RHA, however, specializes in low-income housing as opposed to the workforce housing that Jacobs wants to see in the Neon Line District.

Jacobs also pointed to his new Glow Plaza Festival Grounds, which will celebrate its first full season this year, as proof of continued development of the Neon Line District. The events space, which can accommodate 6,000 people, has several festivals and events planned for the year. The events include a Cinco De Mayo festival, a two-day Beatles celebration called Abbey Road, a Pride pre-parade party, Reno Latinfest, a Reno Jazz Orchestra event and several festivals organized by regional promoter BASS Camp.

All in all, the space will host 50 events days this year, with plans to build up to 100 event days that attract 100,000 people in the future.

“We are confident that J Resort and The Glow Plaza Festival Grounds will continue to grow and evolve as the Reno-Sparks and Lake Tahoe region continues to grow in the years ahead,” Jacobs said.

Boulware, meanwhile, says people only need to go back a few years to see how much of a difference Jacobs Entertainment has made since acquiring the Sands Regency.

Prior to the acquisition, the hotel-casino was not exactly known as a place where locals would take friends who were visiting the area, according to Boulware. Describing the Sands Regency from that time as a two-star or one-star property was “being kind,” Boulware quipped.

“When (Jacobs Entertainment) purchased the Sands in 2017, this area was a dangerous place,” Boulware said. “In just a few short years, look where we are today.”