Most of old Las Vegas, at least on the Las Vegas Strip, has been wiped out. With both Tropicana, the second-oldest resort casino on the Strip and the third-oldest, Casino Royale, set to be replaced, that only leaves Flamingo, which was built in 1946 as a truly old property.
Tropicana, which closes in early April in order to be demolished in favor of a baseball stadium for the Oakland Athletics, is actually 11 years younger, having been built in 1957. The vast majority of the Strip has been built much more recently, although the age of properties becomes hard to judge when you consider that Mirage won't be torn down, but it will be fully remodeled.
Related: Iconic Las Vegas Strip casino back a piece of Sin City history
There are some small vestiges of old-school Las Vegas on the Strip. The legendary "Welcomes to Las Vegas" sign remains a tourist attraction, but land on the Las Vegas Strip has become sol valuable that anything other than a mega-resort or a huge shopping complex makes little financial sense.
Open land remains on the North Strip, but the troubled launch of Fontainebleau Las Vegas makes land in the central and southern sections of the Strip. Those areas are largely controlled by major players, including Caesars Entertainment, MGM Resorts International MGM, Wynn Resorts, and The Venetian.
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You can buy a piece of the Las Vegas Strip
The Diamond Inn harkens back to Las Vegas' older days when motels dominated the Strip, It's a property with a deep history that now sits vacant.
"Built in 1940 the Diamond Inn Motel (then it was called the Desert Isle Motel), is one of the oldest buildings still standing on the strip, which several decades ago the strip was called Arrowhead Highway/Highway 91," the motel shared on its still-operating website.
Diamond Inn may be well past its heyday, but its famed Pink Elephant, which the company claims came from Disney (although there's no record of that) has remained a key photo opportunity. The property closed in 2013 and was recently put up for auction by J.P. King with a minimum sale price of $12.5 million.
The property was listed as of March 14.
"Seize the rare opportunity to own a part of the world-renowned Las Vegas Strip with the Diamond Inn Motel, a property steeped in history and potential. Spanning 1.36 +/- acres with a generous road frontage of 237 +/- feet, this iconic site stands just north of the vibrant 'Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas' sign, visible to over 45 million annual visitors from McCarran International Airport and I-15," J.P. King shared in an online listing for the property.
Historic Las Vegas Strip site does not sell
No bidder stepped up to meet the minimum sales price and Diamond Inn did not sell. A spokesman for J.P. King did not see it failure to sell the historic site at auction a failure. Instead, it's more a step in the process.
“We do feel the auction has identified several serious and interested buyers across the globe, and many are continuing to do their due diligence,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The auction company plans to relist the property for $25 million.
"Zoned H-1 for hotel/casino use, with approved buildable heights reaching skyward between 406 to 505 feet, the estate promises a future as dazzling as its past. It boasts more road frontage than the nearby Paris, MGM Grand, and Venetian, and sits directly opposite Mandalay Bay, Luxor, and Excalibur, placing it at the heart of Las Vegas’ ceaseless energy," J.P. King shared.
It's a situation that means that fans of the property won't know what will happen to Diamon Inn and the Pink Elephant, which goes along with the sale. It's unlikely the new owner would build a small motel, but it could be replaced by something that features the Pink Elephant and offers a not to the site's history.
