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Maxim joins Playboy in Sin City

Maxim magazine plans to lend its name to a more than $1.2 billion hotel casino that would open in 2010 on the Las Vegas Strip, the publisher said Monday.
/ Source: The Associated Press

Maxim, the racy men's magazine, plans to lend its name to a more than $1.2 billion hotel casino that would open in 2010 on the Las Vegas Strip, the publisher said Monday.

"It's going to be upscale, it's going to be four-star, it's going to be sexy and flirtatious, absolutely," said Barry Pincus, New York-based director of brand development for Maxim publisher Dennis Publishing Inc. "But it'll also be fun, it'll be comfortable."

Maxim plans to partner with Los Angeles- and Las Vegas-based real estate developer Concord Wilshire Partners LLC to build the 2,300-room Maxim Hotel & Casino with a 60,000-square foot casino on nine acres just north of the Circus Circus casino hotel.

Construction is expected to begin in late 2007.

A management company would be hired to run the casino and hotel, Pincus said. Maxim would gain licensing fees from the operation, which would also include a 3,000-seat concert venue, pool, spa, retail stores, restaurants and a Rande Gerber-operated nightclub called Maxim Lounge.

About 2,000 of the rooms are expected to be condominium units that can be rented as hotel rooms when the owners are not there, Pincus said.

Maxim, which is published in 45 countries, has a U.S. audience of 13.7 million readers with an average age of 28 years old.

Las Vegas-based condo developer and market watcher Paul Murad said the announcement marked the latest attempt by men's magazines to put their stamp on Sin City.

Playboy is licensing its brand to the first Playboy Club to operate in 25 years when it opens at The Palms casino hotel this fall. GQ magazine has also sponsored local events.

"We may see more of a trend with magazine publishers wanting to have a flagship property to showcase the lifestyle that they promote through their pages," he said.

Pincus said the publisher will also introduce its music magazine Blender brand to the concert venue. He said the company will be intimately involved in every aspect of the property.

"Structurally, it's a license, but in terms of input into the design, look and feel, the programming of the facility, we will be intimately involved in every phase," he said.