By Jacquelynn D. Powers, Photographs: Tomas Muscionico

his month, the retail scene on the Strip is undergoing a revolution as the beleaguered Desert Passage cedes to the Miracle Mile. This mall makeover coincides with the launch of the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino next door, which, too, has shed its Arabic-themed concept, the Aladdin.

Although both projects are separate entities (Miracle Mile Shops is owned by Boulevard Invest, a joint venture of TriStar Capital and RFR Holding, while Planet Hollywood honcho Robert Earl is responsible for that transformation), there is now a seamless integration between the two. Boutiques, restaurants and bars flow right onto the casino floor. It's one big, supercharged world of entertainment— hence the name Miracle Mile. "Miracles can happen here," says TriStar owner David Edelstein.

"We have a casino here. You can go gamble and win $1,000. You can go to a bar and meet a new friend for the night. We have a nightclub that opens at midnight. You can hang out at this mall morning, noon and night, and all kinds of great stuff can happen."

The biggest miracle of all, however, is that the mall is still open. The original Desert Passage was erected in 2000 by Trizec Properties for $300 million. It was conceived and designed with Moroccan and Egyptian elements and architecture. "The theming of malls and hotels was the big thing in Vegas then, such as The Forum Shops and Venetian," says Edelstein.

"Trizec's concept was to take the Aladdin name and go off that. But there were a couple of problems: 9/11 happened and Egyptian and Middle East themes were not popular, obviously. Simultaneously, the market in Las Vegas tanked; people were not getting on planes. Additionally, the actual execution of this theming was so expensive that they started to cut corners.

They also prevented and prohibited the tenants from merchandising and displaying their goods the way a retailer wants to. You couldn't see the windows. There was no grand entrance on Las Vegas Boulevard. The name itself, Desert Passage, didn't mean anything. People would walk by without stopping." In fact, the local nickname was "Deserted Passage."

The Aladdin hotel wasn't faring much better: Within 18 months of its debut, the property was in bankruptcy.

"Robert Earl said if there's ever World War III, you would want to be in that casino because no one will ever find you," Edelstein recalls. Nevertheless, in 2004, Edelstein's TriStar Capital (in a joint venture with RFR Holding) bought Desert Passage for $240 million ...

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