The Riviera (colloquially, "the Riv") was a hotel and casino on the northern Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada. It opened on April 20, 1955, and included a nine-story hotel featuring 291 rooms. The Riviera was the first skyscraper in the Las Vegas Valley, and was the area's tallest building until 1956. Various hotel additions would be made in later years, including a 12-story tower in 1966, a 17-story tower in 1975, and a 24-story tower in 1988. By the time of its closure in 2015, the resort included a casino and 2,075 rooms.

In 1973, the Riviera was sold to businessman Meshulam Riklis, who owned it for the next two decades. The Riviera filed for bankruptcy in 1983, and targeted a middle-class demographic from that point on, which helped the property thrive. Changes included the addition of a Burger King in 1984, making the Riviera the first Strip property to feature a fast-food restaurant.

The Riviera emerged from bankruptcy in 1985, but filed again in 1991, amid an expansion project which went over budget. The property emerged in 1993, under the new ownership of Riviera Holdings Corporation. The property's convention space was expanded in the late 1990s, which helped keep the resort profitable. The Riviera was also host to a variety of live entertainment, including female impersonator Frank Marino (1985–2009) and a topless revue known as Crazy Girls (1987–2015).

In February 2015, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) purchased the Riviera, at a cost of $191 million. The agency had plans to demolish the resort for a major expansion of its nearby Las Vegas Convention Center. The Riviera closed on May 4, 2015, and demolition was underway a year later. The 24-story tower was imploded on June 14, 2016, followed by the 12- and 17-story towers on August 16, 2016. The LVCVA's plans for the property changed after it acquired other nearby acreage. The new convention space was built on the Riviera's eastern portion, while along the Strip were put up for sale in 2019.

History Development The Riviera was originally known as the Casa Blanca prior to the start of construction. It was proposed by a group of businessmen, mostly from Miami Beach, who applied for a gaming license in December 1952. Among the group members was William "Lefty Clark" Bischoff, who previously ran casino operations in Detroit. Bischoff was to hold a 40-percent interest in the Casa Blanca. However, he had been identified a few years earlier, during the Kefauver Committee hearings, as having ties to organized crime. He subsequently withdrew his name from the group's license application.

Two other investors, Miami contractor Julius Gaines and Hollywood producer Lewis Merman, also withdrew because of concern over their affiliation with Charles Tourine, who had a criminal record. Samuel Cohen, a Miami businessman, joined the Casa Blanca project in early 1953 as a financier. He was later identified as a member of Miami's S & G gambling syndicate and would be removed from the project as well, although rumors persisted that he secretly maintained an involvement.

A new list of prospective owners, eliminating all but two of the original investors, was submitted to the Nevada Tax Commission in July 1953. The group, at that time, consisted of eight partners. Among them were brothers David and Myer Gensburg, and brothers Harpo and Gummo Marx. The group was granted a gaming license in September 1953.

The Riviera was built along the northern Las Vegas Strip, at a cost of $8.5 million. Construction began in May 1954. The project was designed by Roy France and Son, an architecture firm based in Miami Beach, with J. Maher Weller as associate architect. The general contractor was Taylor Construction Company, also of Miami.

Early years The Riviera opened on April 20, 1955, and included a nine-story hotel tower. Its debut coincided with that of two other Strip resorts, the Dunes and the Royal Nevada, prompting concerns that Las Vegas had been overbuilt with hotels. Mob fixer Sidney Korshak played a major role in the property's management. Law enforcement agencies suspected that he represented the Chicago Outfit's interest in the Riviera, and was responsible for skimming the casino's revenue and delivering the proceeds to Chicago. This, combined with poor management by the inexperienced Miami group, resulted in significant financial losses for the Riviera.

A group of former Flamingo Hotel managers, led by Gus Greenbaum, soon took over operation of the Riviera, leasing it from the ownership group. Greenbaum had recently retired, and it was widely suspected that he was coerced to return to work by threats from Chicago mob boss Tony Accardo. Among Greenbaum's staff was entertainment director William Nelson, who was soon discovered to be mob informer Willie Bioff, leading to his murder in November 1955. Greenbaum hired Ed Becker, who became the entertainment director.

Greenbaum's drug and gambling addictions led to his embezzling from the casino. In December 1958, he and his wife were murdered in their Phoenix, Arizona home, reportedly on the orders of either Meyer Lansky or Accardo.The Encyclopedia of Unsolved Crimes by Michael Newton, Checkmark Books (August 2004) Ben Goffstein took Greenbaum's place as president. In 1960, the Riviera purchased a 15-percent interest held by the estate of Greenbaum, which retained a 17-percent stake after the sale. The estate's remaining interest was bought a year later. Sid Wyman, a Las Vegas casino executive, also decided to sell his interest back to the Riviera.

Expansion and owner changes Several hotel expansions would take place, including the addition of a 12-story tower in 1966. Two years later, the Riviera was purchased by a new group, which included bankers E. Parry Thomas and Jerome Mack. The group also consisted of investors tied to the Parvin-Dohrmann Corp., which owned the Aladdin, Stardust, and Fremont casinos. In 1969, a deal was made to sell the Riviera to Parvin-Dohrmann, but the sale was blocked by the Nevada Gaming Control Board, due to the company's previous failure to report a change of ownership.

Edward Torres was among the new ownership group and managed resort operations. Dean Martin was hired in 1969 to perform in the casino's showroom, and was given a 10% interest in the Riviera. Martin left in 1972, after Torres refused his request to cut his performance schedule from two nightly shows to one; the Riviera bought back his shares.

In 1973, the Riviera was purchased for $60 million by AITS Inc., a Boston-based travel company controlled by Meshulam Riklis and Isidore Becker. Riklis was majority owner, while Becker would later serve as president of the property. A 17-story tower was added in 1975.

The Riviera eventually suffered financial problems in part because of the early 1980s recession, and also due to competition from new casinos in Atlantic City, where gambling had been legalized. The property filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1983. Riklis pledged money to keep the Riviera in operation, and replaced Becker with Jeffrey Silver to turn the business around. Silver began shifting the Riviera's marketing focus away from high rollers, and towards middle- and working-class gamblers. The property emerged from bankruptcy in 1985.

The Riviera underwent an expansion from 1988 to 1990, which included a neon billboard facade along the Strip. The resort was evacuated when a three-alarm fire occurred during 1989, in a new casino area that was under construction. Lumber had ignited due to sparks from a welder's torch, and the fire caused $3.5 million in damage. It was confined to the new addition, although smoke blackened the property's original hotel tower.

Aside from the new casino space, the expansion project also added a 24-story tower. There were plans to eventually add a 43-story tower and an indoor amusement park, although these never materialized; the prior expansion work had gone significantly over budget, leading the parent company to file again for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1991. The business emerged in 1993 as Riviera Holdings Corporation, owned by the previous secured creditors. Riklis was no longer involved with the property.

In 1997, businessman Allen Paulson agreed to acquire the Riviera, but backed out of the deal a year later, stating that adequate financial information had not been disclosed. Riviera Holdings sued him in response, and the case was settled in 1999.

Final years Despite its age and financial problems, the Riviera would remain popular as a middle-class property through the 2000s, especially in contrast to newer megaresorts being built on the Strip. Riviera Holdings opened a Colorado location, the Riviera Black Hawk, in 2000, owning it for more than a decade. The company considered expanding the brand elsewhere as well.

Prospective buyers for the Las Vegas location became more frequent in the 2000s, as development of the nearby Wynn resort was expected to help revitalize the northern Strip. In 2003, Italian investor Fabrizio Boccardi made an offer for Riviera Holdings, which rejected his bid. By that time, businessman Donald Trump had bought a 10-percent stake in the company, prompting speculation that he would take over the resort. However, Trump simply viewed the property as an investment, and bought into the company only to acquire a Nevada gaming license for potential projects in the future. He sold his shares in 2004. The company D. E. Shaw, one of the largest shareholders in Riviera Holdings, made a buyout offer later that year, but was also rejected. A group of businessmen, including Barry Sternlicht and Neil Bluhm, agreed to buy into the company in 2005, with plans to renovate the Riviera. The buyout ultimately failed, as D. E. Shaw opposed the group's $426 million offer, finding it too low.

In 2005, the Riviera celebrated its 50th anniversary, a rare milestone for Strip properties. According to Michael Green, a professor at the College of Southern Nevada, the Riviera's "survival is one of the most interesting parts of its story, just because 50 years later it's still there and geographically it's on a part of the Strip that hasn't done as well as the part south of The Mirage." Hal Rothman, a history professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said of the Riviera: "It never quite had the pizzazz of the Sands with the Rat Pack. There was never a moment when it was a signature property. It was a good, solid hotel, but it was never the leader of the pack."

The Riviera began targeting customers disappointed by the closure of nearby casinos, such as the Westward Ho in 2005, and the Stardust in 2006. However, the closure of these properties, and that of the New Frontier in 2007, further reduced visitation to the northern Strip. The Riviera was expected to benefit from two nearby projects, Echelon Place and Fontainebleau Las Vegas, but construction on both had been suspended by the end of 2009, due to the Great Recession. Visitation to the area was further reduced a few years later, following the temporary closure of the Sahara.

Riviera Holdings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2010, and emerged the following year through a deal with Sternlicht and other investors. His company, Starwood Capital Group, gained a 75-percent interest in Riviera Holdings, while local casino owner Derek Stevens owned 21 percent. Following Starwood's takeover, prospective buyers continued to look at the Riviera, but were turned off by the amount of money needed to renovate it in line with modern resorts. David A. Siegel was among those who considered a purchase, but found the property to be "a dump," instead buying the nearby LVH resort. Various renovations were launched across the property and underway by 2012. Amid continued financial losses, Paragon Gaming was hired to take over casino operations in 2013, while Riviera Holdings remained as owner.

Closure and demolition