Krystle Sands was a proposed 45-story condo hotel that was to be built on the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester , Nevada . Reservations for the project's condominium units began in 2004, and construction was scheduled to start later that year, with the opening planned for 2006.
97-532: Krystle Sands would have replaced the Algiers Hotel , although the project was canceled in March 2005, when developer F.W. "Freddie" Schinz sold the property to Turnberry Associates . Several people who bought units in the project filed lawsuits against Schinz and Turnberry over the cancellation. The land later became the site of Turnberry's Fontainebleau resort . Krystle Sands was being planned by F.W. "Freddie" Schinz,
194-513: A real estate transfer tax , Turnberry purchased the Krystle Sands project in addition to the property on which it was to be built. Turnberry announced the cancellation of Krystle Sands to buyers in a letter on March 25, 2005, stating that it was unable to receive construction financing to build the project. A condominium boom was underway in Las Vegas at the time, and Krystle Sands was the first of
291-588: A 500-foot-tall Ferris wheel on the Harmon property, which was to be auctioned by the county. Under the proposed land swap , Larry Kifer would likely build a retail center on the Harmon property, located next to the Aladdin resort . The proposal would also allow the county to take control of the Algiers property, allowing for the realignment of Circus Circus Drive with Riviera Boulevard to reduce traffic. The Harmon property auction
388-578: A Florida developer. The project was to consist of a 45-story, 510-foot condo hotel . On April 1, 2004, reservations opened for condominium units on floors 4 to 38 of the tower. The Krystle Sands project was to replace the 105-room Algiers Hotel , located on a 3.6-acre site on the Las Vegas Strip , adjacent to the Turnberry Place complex and to the former site of the El Rancho Hotel and Casino . At
485-569: A buyer for the property while selling the project's 600 units, in an alleged attempt to make what would ultimately become a $ 70 million profit. Other claims in the lawsuits included allegations of fraud, deceptive trade practices and civil conspiracy . Plaintiffs sought at least $ 70 million in damages, as well as the return of escrow money to the buyers. One lawsuit alleged that Turnberry had made false statements regarding its reason for cancelling Krystle Sands, noting that four days earlier, Turnberry had announced that it received construction financing for
582-403: A metal sign box with the hotel's name on it. The hotel also had a roadside pole sign, located along Las Vegas Boulevard, which was lit in neon lighting and was topped by a crown. The Algiers' signs were manufactured by YESCO , and were refinished by Larsen Sign Company in 1992. The hotel structures were accessed through an archway at the left end of the facade. A second parking lot, narrow in size,
679-473: A resolution to prevent the road realignment from happening in the near future, saying, "We want to make it clear to everyone that they are not going to ask for that road, so we won't be burdened with that roadway being in the way every time we try to do something with that property." In May 2004, the Kifers announced that the property was in the process of being sold to F.W. Schinz, a developer who wanted to demolish
776-400: A separate 636-unit tower at its Turnberry Place complex. A class action lawsuit consisting of 150 buyers was underway by June 2006, alleging that Turnberry had an obligation to provide condominium units to buyers who signed purchase and sale agreements and placed 10 percent of the purchase price in escrow. Turnberry stated that all deposits made on Krystle Sands units had been returned and that
873-748: A small number of urban trading settlements, such as Mecca and Medina , located in the Hejaz in the west of the peninsula. Archaeology has revealed the existence of many civilizations in pre-Islamic Arabia (such as the Thamud ), especially in South Arabia . South Arabian civilizations include the Himyarite Kingdom , the Kingdom of Awsan , the Kingdom of Ma'īn , and the Sabaean Kingdom (usually considered to be
970-600: A swimming pool and a parking lot for guests. The Algiers operated a gift shop, as well as the adjacent Candlelight Wedding Chapel . The hotel also included a lounge. Palm trees and gazebos were situated near the hotel's pool, located in the center of the property and surrounded by the motel -style hotel structures. The Algiers was designed and built with large hotel rooms, as it was originally conceived as an extended stay hotel . The Algiers' interior included chandeliers and wall-mounted Tiffany lamps . Hotel rooms featured white-painted wood paneling. The Algiers' facade
1067-538: Is a large volcanic field that extends from northwestern Arabia into Jordan and southern Syria . The Peninsula's constituent countries are (clockwise from north to south) Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on the east, Oman on the southeast, Yemen on the south, and Saudi Arabia at the center. The island country of Bahrain lies just off the east coast of the Peninsula. Due to Yemen's jurisdiction over
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#17328836410611164-594: Is known for its rich oil, i.e. petroleum production due to its geographical location. According to NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite data (2003–2013) analysed in a University of California, Irvine (UCI) -led study published in Water Resources Research on 16 June 2015, the most over-stressed aquifer system in the world is the Arabian Aquifer System , upon which more than 60 million people depend for water. Twenty-one of
1261-827: Is located in the continent of Asia and is bounded by (clockwise) the Persian Gulf on the northeast, the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman on the east, the Arabian Sea on the southeast, the Gulf of Aden , and the Guardafui Channel on the south, and the Bab-el-Mandeb strait on the southwest and the Red Sea, which is located on the southwest and west. The northern portion of the peninsula merges with
1358-647: Is the location of the Kaaba , Islam's holiest site, and the Masjid al-Nabawi (the Prophet's Mosque) in Medina is the location of Muhammad 's grave; as a result, from the 7th century, Mecca and Medina became the pilgrimage destinations for large numbers of Muslims from across the Islamic world . Despite its spiritual importance, in political terms Arabia soon became a peripheral region of
1455-407: Is unsuited to agriculture, making irrigation and land reclamation projects essential. The narrow coastal plain and isolated oases, amounting to less than 1% of the land area, are used to cultivate grains, coffee and tropical fruits . Goat, sheep, and camel husbandry is widespread elsewhere throughout the rest of the Peninsula. Some areas have a summer humid tropical monsoon climate , in particular
1552-721: The Al Saud , began in Najd in central Arabia in 1744, when Muhammad bin Saud , founder of the dynasty, joined forces with the religious leader Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab , founder of the Wahhabi movement , a strict puritanical form of Sunni Islam. The Emirate of Diriyah established in the area around Riyadh rapidly expanded and briefly controlled most of the present-day territory of Saudi Arabia, sacking Karbala in 1802, and capturing Mecca in 1803. The Damascus Protocol of 1914 provides an illustration of
1649-579: The Arabian Plate . At 3,237,500 km (1,250,000 sq mi), comparable in size to India , the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the Arabian Peninsula includes Bahrain , Kuwait , Oman , Qatar , Saudi Arabia , the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Yemen , as well as southern Iraq and Jordan . The largest of these is Saudi Arabia. In
1746-451: The Dhofar and Al Mahrah areas of Oman and Yemen. These areas allow for large scale coconut plantations. Much of Yemen has a tropical monsoon rain influenced mountain climate. The plains usually have either a tropical or subtropical arid desert climate or arid steppe climate . The sea surrounding the Arabian Peninsula is generally tropical sea with a very rich tropical sea life and some of
1843-577: The First Islamic State - a single Arab Muslim religious polity in the Arabian Peninsula. Under the subsequent Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphates , rapid expansion of Arab power well beyond the Arabian peninsula formed a vast Muslim Arab Empire with an area of influence that stretched from the northwest Indian subcontinent , across Central Asia , the Middle East , North Africa , southern Italy , and
1940-650: The Fontainebleau Las Vegas resort on the former Algiers and Thunderbird properties. The Algiers opened on November 25, 1953. It was built by the Thunderbird hotel and casino (later the El Rancho), which was located at the northern end of the Las Vegas Strip . The 110-room Algiers was built as a sister property to deal with an overflow of guests at the adjacent Thunderbird. The hotel was built by Thunderbird developer Marion Hicks and his wife Lillian. The Algiers
2037-704: The Iberian Peninsula , to the Pyrenees . With Muhammad's death in 632, disagreement broke out over who would succeed him as leader of the Muslim community. Umar ibn al-Khattab , a prominent companion of Muhammad, nominated Abu Bakr , who was Muhammad's intimate friend and collaborator. Others added their support and Abu Bakr was made the first caliph . This choice was disputed by some of Muhammad's companions, who held that Ali ibn Abi Talib , his cousin and son-in-law, had been designated his successor. Abu Bakr's immediate task
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#17328836410612134-489: The Islamic world , in which the most important medieval Islamic states were based at various times in such far away cities as Damascus , Baghdad , and Cairo . However, from the 10th century (and, in fact, until the 20th century) the Hashemite Sharifs of Mecca maintained a state in the most developed part of the region, the Hejaz . Their domain originally comprised only the holy cities of Mecca and Medina but in
2231-620: The Nefud Desert dates to approximately 90,000 years ago and is the oldest human fossil discovered outside of Africa and the Levant. This indicates human migrations from Africa to Arabia occurred around this time. The Arabian Peninsula may have been the homeland of a ' Basal Eurasian ' population, which diverged from other Eurasians soon after the Out-of-Africa migration, and subsequently became isolated, until it started to mix with other populations in
2328-725: The Rashidun or "rightly guided" Caliphate . Under the Rashidun Caliphs, and, from 661, their Umayyad successors , the Arabs rapidly expanded the territory under Muslim control outside of Arabia. In a matter of decades Muslim armies decisively defeated the Byzantine army and destroyed the Persian Empire , conquering huge swathes of territory from the Iberian peninsula to India. The political focus of
2425-708: The Socotra Archipelago , the Peninsula's geopolitical outline faces the Guardafui Channel and the Somali Sea to the south. The six countries of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE form the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia covers the greater part of the Peninsula. The majority of the population of the Peninsula lives in Saudi Arabia and Yemen. The Peninsula contains
2522-459: The Syrian Desert with no clear borderline, although the northern boundary of the peninsula is generally considered to be the northern borders of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, also southern regions of Iraq and Jordan. The most prominent feature of the peninsula is desert , but in the southwest, there are mountain ranges, which receive greater rainfall than the rest of the peninsula. Harrat ash Shaam
2619-505: The Tuwayr , Shammar and Dhofar generally do not exceed 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in height. Not all mountains in the peninsula are visibly within ranges. Jebel Hafeet in particular, on the border of the UAE and Oman, measuring between 1,100 and 1,300 m (3,600 and 4,300 ft), is not within the Hajar range, but may be considered an outlier of that range. Most of the Arabian Peninsula
2716-465: The United States –led 2003 invasion of Iraq . Despite its historically sparse population, political Arabia stands out for its rapid population growth, driven by both significant inflows of migrant labor and persistently high birth rates. The population is characterized by its relative youth and a heavily skewed gender ratio favoring males. In several states, the number of South Asians surpasses that of
2813-634: The 13th century it was extended to include the rest of the Hejaz . Although, the Sharifs exercised at most times independent authority in the Hejaz , they were usually subject to the suzerainty of one of the major Islamic empires of the time. In the Middle Ages, these included the Abbasids of Baghdad , and the Fatimids , Ayyubids , and Mamluks of Egypt . The provincial Ottoman Army for Arabia (Arabistan Ordusu)
2910-502: The 1940s through the 1960s, including Bing Crosby , Johnny Mathis , and Nat King Cole . Johnson said about her customers, "They like the old-time atmosphere." According to Johnson, many customers told her that the restaurant looked exactly the same as it did around 1960. A bar window, boarded up since 1969, was reopened in October 1999 to let in sunlight and provide a view of the hotel's courtyard . By 2001, aside from routine maintenance,
3007-519: The 1980s. The Algiers would later become popular among sales people, senior citizens, and Europeans. In 1991, the Algiers property was earmarked for possible condemnation to allow for the realignment of Riviera Boulevard with nearby Circus Circus Drive, thereby reducing traffic. Walsh remained as general manager until his death in July 1996, at the age of 81. Marrianne Kifer and her business partner, ex-husband Larry Kifer, had been in charge of operations at
Krystle Sands - Misplaced Pages Continue
3104-588: The Algiers building would not require expensive cleanup costs such as the removal of asbestos . Mandalay Resort Group , owners of the Circus Circus resort, publicly protested the road realignment in April 2002, stating that it would disrupt traffic flow into the resort's parking lot. A decision on the land swap was postponed in May 2002, due to the objections raised by Mandalay Resort Group. In December 2002, Kaempfer said that
3201-469: The Algiers for afternoon meetings. In the 1970s, Nevada governor Mike O'Callaghan stayed in a hotel room at the Algiers. Bulletproof glass was installed in O'Callaghan's room and was left in place afterwards. Paul Price, a former writer for the Las Vegas Sun , would also visit the hotel's bar to write his daily column. Las Vegas sheriff John Moran regularly ate lunch at the Algiers' restaurant during
3298-458: The Algiers for some time prior to Walsh's death, and planned to continue operating it. Up to 2001, the hotel had remained nearly unchanged, and had built a steady clientele consisting of the same customers. At the time, it was one of only several small hotels still operating on the Las Vegas Strip, where megaresorts had become common. In February 2001, Larry Kifer convinced the county that
3395-430: The Algiers into any new project: "That's something we constantly hear. It's a piece of old Vegas. The place has a lot of history." In July 2001, Chris Kaempfer, a lawyer on behalf of Algiers Inc., proposed that all or a portion of the hotel's property be swapped with a 2.3-acre (0.93 ha) parcel located further south on the Las Vegas Strip at the corner of Harmon Avenue. Outland Development Company planned to construct
3492-484: The Algiers property was worth only $ 3.8 million, rather than the $ 8.2 million appraised by the Clark County assessor's office. The Clark County Board of Equalization agreed to lower the appraisal price to $ 5.7 million, the same appraisal price as the year before. The reduction resulted in a 29-percent cut from Kifer's tax bill. That month, Larry Kifer announced plans for a new casino and 38-floor hotel tower to be built on
3589-451: The Algiers' general manager in 1961. Walsh and his wife, Blanche, lived at the property from that point on. Marianne Kifer, the Hicks' daughter and the eventual owner of the Algiers, stated that her mother heavily relied on Walsh: "They were very, very good friends as well. She depended on him for everything -- his business advice and friendship." City and state politicians regularly gathered at
3686-622: The Euphrates, including all the area between Pelusium on the Nile and Babylon. This area was also called Arabia and not sharply distinguished from the peninsula. The Arabs and the Ottoman Empire considered the west of the Arabian Peninsula region where the Arabs lived 'the land of the Arabs' – Bilad al-'Arab ( Arabia ), and its major divisions were the bilad al-Sham ( Levant ), bilad al-Yaman ( Yemen ), and Bilad al-'Iraq ( Iraq ). The Ottomans used
3783-561: The Gulf Cooperation Council's mediation. He eventually handed power to Vice President Hadi, who was sworn in as President of Yemen on 25 February 2012. Hadi launched a national dialogue to address new constitutional, political and social issues. The Houthi movement , dissatisfied with the outcomes of the national dialogue, launched an offensive and stormed the Yemeni capital Sanaa on 21 September 2014. In response, Saudi Arabia launched
3880-471: The Las Vegas hotel." As of 2001, the Algiers had 106 hotel rooms, including one suite. At that time, the hotel also featured video poker machines in the bar. After the hotel's closure, the roadside sign was donated to Las Vegas' Neon Museum . During the 1990s, the hotel was featured in the films Leaving Las Vegas and Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery . In 2003, the hotel
3977-532: The Middle East since around 25,000 years ago. These different Middle Eastern populations would later spread Basal Eurasian ancestry via the Neolithic Revolution to all of Western Eurasia. There is evidence that human habitation in the Arabian Peninsula dates back to about 106,000 to 130,000 years ago. The harsh climate historically prevented much settlement in the pre-Islamic Arabian Peninsula, apart from
Krystle Sands - Misplaced Pages Continue
4074-609: The Muslim world then shifted to the newly conquered territories. Nevertheless, Mecca and Medina remained the spiritually most important places in the Muslim world . The Qur'an requires every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it, as one of the five pillars of Islam , to make a pilgrimage, or Hajj , to Mecca during the Islamic month of Dhu al-Hijjah at least once in his or her lifetime. The Masjid al-Haram (the Grand Mosque) in Mecca
4171-514: The Saudi Arabian border and rallied popular support. The royalist side received support from Saudi Arabia, while the republicans were supported by Egypt and the Soviet Union. Both foreign irregular and conventional forces were also involved. The Egyptian President , Gamal Abdel Nasser , supported the republicans with as many as 70,000 troops. Despite several military moves and peace conferences,
4268-427: The appearance of an older Las Vegas hotel. In 1991, the property was earmarked for possible condemnation , allowing for the realignment of nearby streets in order to reduce traffic. In 2001, owner Larry Kifer proposed swapping the Algiers property for a different parcel that the county planned to auction. Kifer stated that the potential road realignment project on the Algiers property had made it difficult to redevelop
4365-563: The biblical land of Sheba ). From 106 AD to 630 AD northwestern Arabia was under the control of the Roman Empire , which renamed it Arabia Petraea . Central Arabia was the location of the Kingdom of Kinda in the 4th, 5th and early 6th centuries. Eastern Arabia was home to the Dilmun civilization . The earliest known events in Arabian history are migrations from the peninsula into neighbouring areas. The Arabian Peninsula has long been accepted as
4462-409: The biggest ongoing threat believed to be coastal construction activity altering the marine environment. The fertile soils of Yemen have encouraged settlement of almost all of the land from sea level up to the mountains at 10,000 feet (3,000 m). In the higher elevations, elaborate terraces have been constructed to facilitate grain, fruit, coffee, ginger and khat cultivation. The Arabian peninsula
4559-715: The classical era, the Sinai Peninsula was also considered a part of Arabia. The Arabian Peninsula formed as a result of the rifting of the Red Sea between 56 and 23 million years ago, and is bordered by the Red Sea to the west and southwest, the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman to the northeast, the Levant and Mesopotamia to the north and the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean to
4656-422: The company had no intention of building the project. A lawyer representing the buyer group alleged that Turnberry lied to buyers about being unable to obtain construction financing for Krystle Sands as part of an attempt to build its Fontainebleau resort on the property: "They had to figure a way to lie to buyers and not tell the truth that they're going to jettison the project to build Fountainbleu [sic]." The case
4753-441: The county commission in February 2002. By early March 2002, Kent released a report stating that the Algiers land was worth approximately $ 11.2 million. Upon realignment of the nearby streets, the property value would drop to approximately $ 6.8 million, according to Kent. Later that month, Clark County's Public Works division was told to proceed with negotiations for the land swap. However, county commissioners wanted assurances that
4850-418: The county no longer needed or wanted the road realignment, and that there was no desire to swap the Algiers land if the county did not plan to proceed with the road project. Kaempfer also said that previous potential sales of the Algiers had been derailed "because any time someone wanted to buy the property, Public Works would say the realignment would cut the Algiers in two." Kaempfer asked the commission to pass
4947-423: The county, found that the Algiers' appraisals included misleading and erroneous statements. In November 2001, Kaempfer stated that the county's possible realignment of the nearby roads had prevented Kifer from developing his property into a 1,087-room, 38-story hotel and timeshare resort that would have been named Grand Prix Casino Hotel. That month, the Clark County Commission voted 4-2 to begin negotiations for
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#17328836410615044-464: The differing values were based on the property with the outdated hotel structure on it and the property value in the event that the 1,000-room hotel resort was built. Also noted by the country was whether the road realignment at the Algiers property was really needed, as the traffic study for the area had been conducted 10 years earlier and was considered no longer valid because of changing traffic patterns. The Algiers had 31 employees as of July 2001. At
5141-435: The east) constituting only a quarter of people aged between 20 and 40. The eleven most populous cities on the Arabian Peninsula are: The rocks exposed vary systematically across Arabia, with the oldest rocks exposed in the Arabian-Nubian Shield near the Red Sea, overlain by earlier sediments that become younger towards the Persian Gulf. Perhaps the best-preserved ophiolite on Earth, the Semail Ophiolite , lies exposed in
5238-421: The eastern Al-Qassim Province , which would indicate that many prehistoric sites, located along a network of rivers, had once existed in the area. Acheulean tools found in Saffaqah, Riyadh Region reveal that hominins lived in the Arabian Peninsula around 188,000 years ago. Human habitation in Arabia may have occurred as early as 130,000 years ago. A fossilized Homo sapiens finger bone found at Al Wusta in
5335-444: The eastern, southern and northwestern borders of the peninsula. Broadly, the ranges can be grouped as follows: From the Hejaz southwards, the mountains show a steady increase in altitude westward as they get nearer to Yemen, and the highest peaks and ranges are all located in Yemen. The highest, Jabal An-Nabi Shu'ayb or Jabal Hadhur of the Haraz subrange of the Sarawat range, is 3,666 metres (12,028 ft) high. By comparison,
5432-497: The gold raceways. The hotel's theme of a desert paradise was also common among several older Las Vegas hotels dating as early as the 1950s, including the Aladdin , the Dunes , the Sahara , and the Sands . In 1996, the Algiers restaurant was leased to Marilyn Johnson, who opened Tommy's Rib & Steakhouse at the hotel. Covering the restaurant walls were framed black-and-white photographs of old Las Vegas hotels and celebrities from decades earlier. At night, Johnson played music from
5529-447: The hotel to make room for the Krystle Sands condominium tower. At the time, the hotel had 25 employees, and was scheduled to close between June and September 2004. The Algiers closed on August 31, 2004. Demolition of the hotel was approved in late September 2004, and had been completed by March 2005. That month, Schinz cancelled the Krystle Sands project and sold the property for $ 97 million to Turnberry Associates , which owned
5626-427: The land swap. Kaempfer stated that if Kifer purchased the Harmon property, he would likely lease it to another company, with Outland Development as a possibility. In December 2001, county engineers were redesigning Riviera Boulevard to determine how much of the Algiers property would be needed for the realignment, in order to help appraisers determine the value of the land. The final deal was expected to be presented to
5723-415: The land, and closed on the deal in July 2004. The project was to be handled by Krystle Sands LLC, a limited liability company formed by Schinz in Florida. The company name was later changed to Krystle Towers LLC. In March 2005, Schinz sold Krystle Towers LLC and the property for $ 97 million to Turnberry Associates , which owned the Turnberry Place complex and the former land of the El Rancho. To avoid paying
5820-423: The land. Kifer dropped his proposal in late 2002, after the county decided not to realign the streets. In 2004, the property was sold to a developer who planned to demolish the Algiers and build the Krystle Sands condominium tower on the land. The Algiers closed on August 31, 2004, and was demolished, while the Krystle Sands project was cancelled in 2005. Two years later, Turnberry Associates began construction of
5917-402: The modern era, the term bilad al-Yaman came to refer specifically to the southwestern parts of the peninsula. Arab geographers started to refer to the whole peninsula as 'jazirat al-Arab', or the peninsula of the Arabs. The railway was started in 1900 at the behest of the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II and was built largely by the Turks , with German advice and support. A public subscription
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#17328836410616014-437: The modern state of Saudi Arabia. The Saudis absorbed the Emirate of Asir , with their expansion only ending in 1934 after a war with Yemen . Two Saudi states were formed and controlled much of Arabia before Ibn Saud was even born. Ibn Saud, however, established the third Saudi state. The second major development has been the discovery of vast reserves of oil in the 1930s. Its production brought great wealth to all countries of
6111-472: The mountains of the UAE and northern Oman. The peninsula consists of: Arabia has few lakes or permanent rivers. Most areas are drained by ephemeral watercourses called wadis , which are dry except during the rainy season. Plentiful ancient aquifers exist beneath much of the peninsula, however, and where this water surfaces, oases form (e.g. Al-Hasa and Qatif , two of the world's largest oases ) and permit agriculture, especially palm trees , which allowed
6208-436: The native population. The four smallest states (by area), with coastlines entirely bordering the Persian Gulf, showcase the world's most extreme population growth, nearly tripling every two decades. In 2014, the estimated population of the Arabian Peninsula was 77,983,936 (including expatriates). The Arabian Peninsula is known for having one of the most uneven adult sex ratios in the world, with females in some regions (especially
6305-399: The nearby Turnberry Place complex, as well as the former El Rancho property. In 2007, Turnberry began building the Fontainebleau Las Vegas resort on the former El Rancho and Algiers properties. The resort opened in 2023, following construction delays. The Algiers featured an Arabian / Persian theme. The hotel was made of brick, and its pink-and-turquoise painted exterior surrounded
6402-399: The newly proposed projects to be canceled. Shortly after the cancellation was announced, some buyers of the project's condominium units filed five lawsuits against Schinz, Krystle Sands LLC, Krystle Towers LLC, and Fidelity National Title Agency of Nevada. One lawsuit sought class-action status. Each lawsuit alleged that Schinz never planned to build the tower and was in the process of seeking
6499-404: The original Urheimat of the Semitic languages by most scholars. The seventh century saw the rise of Islam as the peninsula's dominant religion. The Islamic prophet Muhammad was born in Mecca in about 570 and first began preaching in the city in 610, but migrated to Medina in 622. From there he and his companions united the tribes of Arabia under the banner of Islam and created
6596-399: The peninsula to produce more dates than any other region in the world. In general, the climate is extremely hot and arid , although there are exceptions. Higher elevations are made temperate by their altitude, and the Arabian Sea coastline can receive cool, humid breezes in summer due to cold upwelling offshore. The peninsula has no thick forests. Desert-adapted wildlife is present throughout
6693-416: The property remained virtually unchanged since its opening. Larry Kifer said, "Our thought has always been to maintain it as it was, consistently remodeling but with same decor." The Las Vegas Sun noted in 2001 that the property was quiet, stating that, "Save for the Riviera looming over the Algiers' south side, one would never know by standing in its courtyard that the hotel is on the Strip. […] Standing on
6790-525: The property. In March 2001, Larry Kifer said, "We've worked on keeping the property in great condition. We continue to look at opportunities for redevelopment." That month, Kifer also said that he had previously been approved to develop a 1,000-room hotel on the Algiers property, but he was unable to find investors because they disliked the closed El Rancho resort next door, which had become an eyesore prior to its eventual demolition in October 2000. Kifer said that he wanted to incorporate as much as possible of
6887-435: The region, with the exception of Yemen. The North Yemen Civil War was fought in North Yemen between royalists of the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen and factions of the Yemen Arab Republic from 1962 to 1970. The war began with a coup d'état carried out by the republican leader, Abdullah as-Sallal , which dethroned the newly crowned Muhammad al-Badr and declared Yemen a republic under his presidency. The Imam escaped to
6984-419: The region. A plateau more than 2,500 feet (760 m) high extends across much of the Arabian Peninsula. The plateau slopes eastwards from the massive, rifted escarpment along the coast of the Red Sea, to the shallow waters of the Persian Gulf. The interior is characterized by cuestas and valleys, drained by a system of wadis . A crescent of sand and gravel deserts lies to the east. There are mountains at
7081-608: The regional relationships. Arabs living in one of the existing districts of the Arabian peninsula, the Emirate of Hejaz , asked for a British guarantee of independence. Their proposal included all Arab lands south of a line roughly corresponding to the northern frontiers of present-day Syria and Iraq. They envisioned a new Arab state, or confederation of states, adjoining the southern Arabian Peninsula. It would have comprised Cilicia – İskenderun and Mersin , Iraq with Kuwait, Syria, Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate , Jordan, and Palestine . In
7178-807: The ruling Ottoman Empire and creating a single unified Arab state spanning from Aleppo in Syria to Aden in Yemen. During World War I, the Sharif Hussein entered into an alliance with the United Kingdom and France against the Ottomans in June 1916. These events were followed by the foundation of Saudi Arabia under King Abdulaziz Ibn Saud . In 1902, Ibn Saud had captured Riyadh . Continuing his conquests, Abdulaziz subdued Al-Hasa, Jabal Shammar , Hejaz between 1913 and 1926 founded
7275-478: The small outdoor patio near the hotel entrance, the clicking of yellow light bulbs flickering from the hotel's red-painted restaurant is the only sound you hear." Hal Rothman, a history professor for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas , said at that time, "It is a wonderful piece of old Las Vegas,. It's one of the things that if in another city it would become a historical place ... It's the archetypical 1950s-style of
7372-515: The southeast. The peninsula plays a critical geopolitical role in the Arab world and globally due to its vast reserves of oil and natural gas . Before the modern era, the region was divided into primarily four distinct regions: the Central Plateau ( Najd and Al-Yamama ), South Arabia ( Yemen , Hadhramaut and Oman ), Al-Bahrain (Eastern Arabia or Al-Hassa ), and the Hejaz ( Tihamah for
7469-564: The term Arabistan in a broad sense for the region starting from Cilicia , where the Euphrates river makes its descent into Syria, through Palestine , and on through the remainder of the Sinai and Arabian peninsulas. The provinces of Arabia were: Al Tih, the Sinai peninsula, Hejaz, Asir, Yemen, Hadramaut, Mahra and Shilu, Oman, Hasa, Bahrain, Dahna, Nufud, the Hammad, which included the deserts of Syria, Mesopotamia and Babylonia. The Arabian Peninsula
7566-541: The thirty seven largest aquifers "have exceeded sustainability tipping points and are being depleted" and thirteen of them are "considered significantly distressed". Stone tools from the Middle Paleolithic age along with fossils of other animals discovered at Ti's al Ghadah, in northwestern Saudi Arabia, might imply that hominins migrated through a "Green Arabia" between 300,000 and 500,000 years ago. 200,000-year-old stone tools were discovered at Shuaib Al-Adgham in
7663-548: The time of the announcement, 70 percent of the project's 600 units had been reserved. Most units would range from 852 sq ft (79.2 m) to 1,329 sq ft (123.5 m), with prices from $ 400,000 to more than $ 700,000. Although the tower was to be 45 stories high, it would skip the 13th floor. The tower's penthouses, starting at $ 1 million, would be located from floors 39 to 44, and would range from 2,400 sq ft (220 m) to more than 3,000 sq ft (280 m). Restaurants and retail were planned for
7760-419: The time, Larry Kifer said, "We used to worry all the time, every time they built a new hotel, that the people will dissipate. What we've learned is that there is a market for our hotel." By October 2001, two separate appraisers had been hired by Kifer and had both placed the value of the Algiers property at $ 27 million, which county officials considered to be questionably high. Gary Kent, an appraiser hired by
7857-441: The tower's first and second floors. The third floor was to consist of a recreation center and pool for condominium owners and renters. A rooftop restaurant was also planned. JMA Architecture Studios was the architect. Perini Building Company was to be the general contractor . Krystle Sands was to cost $ 400 million, and was to begin construction in October 2004, with an opening in summer 2006. Schinz paid more than $ 26.2 million for
7954-501: The war in Yemen as analogous to the United States ' role in the Vietnam War . In 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait. The invasion of Kuwait by Iraqi forces led to the 1990–91 Gulf War . Egypt, Qatar, Syria, and Saudi Arabia joined a multinational coalition that opposed Iraq. Displays of support for Iraq by Jordan and Palestine resulted in strained relations between many of the Arab states. After
8051-478: The war sank into a stalemate. Egypt's commitment to the war is considered to have been detrimental to its performance in the Six-Day War of June 1967, after which Nasser found it increasingly difficult to maintain his army's involvement and began to pull his forces out of Yemen. By 1970, King Faisal of Saudi Arabia recognized the republic and a truce was signed. Egyptian military historians refer to Egypt's role in
8148-635: The war, a so-called "Damascus Declaration" formalized an alliance for future joint Arab defensive actions between Egypt, Syria, and the GCC member states. The Arab Spring reached Yemen in January 2011. People of Yemen took to the street demonstrating against three decades of rule by President Ali Abdullah Saleh . The demonstration led to cracks in the ruling General People's Congress (GPC) and Saleh's Sanhani clan. Saleh used tactics of concession and violence to save his presidency. After numerous attempts, Saleh accepted
8245-571: The western coast), as described by Ibn al-Faqih . In antiquity, the term "Arabia" encompassed a larger area than the current term "Arabian Peninsula" and included the Arabian desert and large parts of the Syrian-Arabian desert . During the Hellenistic period , the area was known as Arabia ( Ancient Greek : Ἀραβία ). The Romans named three regions "Arabia": One of the nomes of Ptolemaic Egypt
8342-510: The world's largest reserves of oil. Saudi Arabia and the UAE are economically the wealthiest in the region. Qatar, the only peninsular country in the Persian Gulf on the larger peninsula, is home to the Arabic-language television station Al Jazeera and its English-language subsidiary Al Jazeera English . Kuwait, on the border with Iraq, is an important country strategically, forming one of the main staging grounds for coalition forces mounting
8439-578: The world's largest, undestroyed and most pristine coral reefs. In addition, the organisms living in symbiosis with the Red Sea coral, the protozoa and zooxanthellae , have a unique hot weather adaptation to sudden rise (and fall) in sea water temperature. Hence, these coral reefs are not affected by coral bleaching caused by rise in temperature as elsewhere in the indopacific coral sea. The reefs are also unaffected by mass tourism and diving or other large scale human interference. The Persian gulf has suffered significant loss and degradation of coral reefs with
8536-568: Was constructed on 3.55 acres (1.44 ha), located on what would become the northeast corner of Riviera Boulevard and South Las Vegas Boulevard . The hotel was located directly north of the eventual site for the Riviera hotel-casino , and across the street from the eventual site of the Circus Circus hotel-casino . Jack Walsh, the general manager for the Thunderbird during the late 1950s, became
8633-414: Was delayed for three months for more time to examine the Algiers proposal. A potential issue with the proposal was the value of the Algiers property, which was lower than the Harmon property. Kifer's attorneys stated that the Algiers land was worth nearly as much as the $ 21 million Harmon property, despite Kifer's earlier stance that the property was only worth $ 3.8 million. Kifer's attorneys stated that
8730-492: Was expected to go to trial in March 2007. Algiers Hotel The Algiers Hotel was an Arabian / Persian -themed hotel located at 2845 South Las Vegas Boulevard on the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada . The Algiers opened on November 25, 1953, as a 110-room sister property to the adjacent Thunderbird hotel and casino . The Algiers was noted for mostly retaining its original design throughout its operation, giving it
8827-567: Was headquartered in Syria , which included Palestine, the Transjordan region in addition to Lebanon ( Mount Lebanon was, however, a semi-autonomous mutasarrifate ). It was put in charge of Syria, Cilicia, Iraq, and the remainder of the Arabian Peninsula. The Ottomans never had any control over central Arabia, also known as the Najd region. The emergence of what was to become the Saudi royal family, known as
8924-410: Was located along the facade. The Algiers was noted as having an appearance similar to older Las Vegas hotels. In 1995, when Walsh was asked why he retained the Algiers' appearance throughout the years, he said, "I like it. A lot of people like it ... There haven't been any big changes. Just pictures and paint." Design elements that were common to older Las Vegas hotels included the roadside sign and
9021-417: Was made of stucco and included several stores, each one topped by crown-shaped neon lights, similar to a Persian gateway or spire . Each store was separated by a section of vertical, polished gold raceways that featured chasing lights . Located on opposite ends of the facade were neon signs spelling out the hotel's name; the left side featured lettering in rose and ruby coloring, while the right side featured
9118-433: Was named Arabia . Arabians used a north–south division of Arabia: ash-Sham vs. al-Yaman , or Arabia Deserta vs. Arabia Felix . Arabia Felix had originally been used for the whole peninsula, and at other times only for the southern region. Because its use became limited to the south, the whole peninsula was simply called Arabia. Arabia Deserta was the entire desert region extending north from Arabia Felix to Palmyra and
9215-593: Was opened throughout the Islamic world to fund the construction. The railway was to be a waqf , an inalienable religious endowment or charitable trust. The major developments of the early 20th century were the Arab Revolt during World War I and the subsequent collapse and partitioning of the Ottoman Empire . The Arab Revolt (1916–1918) was initiated by the Sherif Hussein ibn Ali with the aim of securing independence from
9312-603: Was photographed for the Italian edition of Elle . Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula ( / ə ˈ r eɪ b i ə n p ə n ɪ n sj u l ə / ; Arabic : شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَة الْعَرَبِيَّة , shibhu l-jazīra l-ʿarabiyya , "Arabian Peninsula" or جَزِيرَةُ الْعَرَب , jazīratu l-ʿarab , lit. ' Island of the Arabs ' ), or Arabia , is a peninsula in West Asia , situated northeast of Africa on
9409-451: Was to avenge a recent defeat by Byzantine (or Eastern Roman Empire ) forces, although he first had to put down a rebellion by Arab tribes in an episode known as the Ridda wars , or "Wars of Apostasy". On his death in 634, he was succeeded by Umar as caliph, followed by Uthman ibn al-Affan and Ali ibn Abi Talib . The period of these first four caliphs is known as al-khulafā' ar-rāshidūn :
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