SkyVue Las Vegas Super Wheel
Concept drawing of "London, Las Vegas" resort
Photo Credit: blog.vegas.com - "Almost Vegas: Las Vegas Hotels That Never Were"
In 2011, phase one of construction began on a newly planned resort called "London, Las Vegas." When completed, the resort would have featured 1300 hotel rooms, a massive casino and over 550,000 sq/ft of retail shops & restaurants - all of which would have been replicas of British landmarks.
The first phase of that project was a giant ferris wheel called "The SkyVue Las Vegas Super Wheel." At an anticipated cost of over $100 Million, SkyVue was proposed to be over 500 feet tall & capable of carrying 1000 passengers in its 40 gondolas. It would also be home of "the largest outdoor advertising LED screen in the world."
Shovels went in for ground-breaking in May 2011 with plans to be open by New Years Eve 2012. In March 2012, as the first bits of concrete were poured for the foundation of the wheel, it was announced that the opening was being pushed out to July 4, 2013.
Concrete being poured for the foundation of the SkyVue Las Vegas Super Wheel
Photo Credit: Amusement Today
In May 2012, SkyVue's owners pushed the opening date - again - to a vague "mid-2013". Then, in July 2012, another opening date was announced. This time, the opening date was New Years Eve 2013.
As July 2013 rolled around, work at the site was basically non-existent with construction workers rarely - if ever - being spotted. But in spite of rumours of collapsed finances & cold-footed investors, SkyVue's owners insisted that all was well and work was moving forward as planned.
They also announced yet another new opening date: Mid-2015
By January 2014 crews arrived on the site and, over the course of several days, removed the scaffolding that had been built up around the two 200-foot tall concrete support towers. SkyVue developer David Gaffin insisted the project wasn't dead and that work continued "behind the scenes" and the scaffolding was being taken away because it simply wasn't needed.
SkyVue Las Vegas Superwheel's two 200-foot concrete supports with scaffolding
Photo Credit: RoyVegas.blogspot.com
By November 2015, the property intended to be used for The SkyVue Wheel - along with several other pieces of nearby land - were put up for sale at a believed price of $385 Million.
The land has sat unsold and unused since that time with only the two giant concrete pillars remaining as reminders of what could have been.
SkyVue Las Vegas site as of 2020
Photo Credit: Las Vegas Review-Journal