Riviera Hotel & Casino

In May 1954, critics argued that the unstable desert soil and high water table of the Las Vegas Valley were incapable of supporting a skyscraper. By April 1955, the Riviera Hotel & Casino opened and proved the skeptics wrong, standing at nine-stories tall—the tallest in Las Vegas until the opening of the Fremont Hotel & Casino in 1956—and laying the foundation for the current skyline of the city.

As the urbanscape of Las Vegas has developed since our humble beginnings in the early 1900s, the city has witnessed a surge in construction that has expanded its horizons of luxury, technology, and sustainability. Skyscrapers on the Strip, such as the two sculptural 52-story glass towers at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas or the 50-story main tower at the Aria Resort & Casino, are bold statements of a new aesthetic, and examples of a shared commitment to ecologically minded design. The Aria is one of the world’s largest environmentally sustainable urban communities, boasting a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certification, which is a globally recognized rating system for sustainable buildings.

Sports arenas and multipurpose events venues are also building bigger and greener. The T-Mobile Arena, which holds 20,000 seats and features an expansive glass façade with a sweeping 9,000-square foot LED screen, is also a LEED certified facility. These modern developments are marrying opulence and sustainability as a reflection of our times. Highly anticipated projects coming to Las Vegas include the proposed Bally’s Corporation property, which is slated to feature the Oakland Athletics’ baseball stadium on the former site of the Tropicana Hotel & Casino. Additionally, the upcoming Hard Rock Resort—featuring a nearly 700-foot high guitar-shaped hotel—is poised to open in 2027, located on the former site of the Mirage Hotel & Casino. These future projects have publicly pledged their efforts towards environmental sustainability and impactful aesthetics in their respective architectural designs.