The start of construction was delayed several times because of poor financial quarters for Santa Fe Gaming and because of the company not yet receiving financing for the project.
In March 1994, Sahara Gaming Corporation, which owned the Santa Fe hotel-casino in northwest Las Vegas, announced plans for a then-unnamed casino and 200-room hotel that would be built on 40 acres (16 ha) of land at the northwest corner of Sunset Road and Marks Street in Henderson, Nevada, adjacent to the proposed Galleria at Sunset mall.
[8] By January 1998, construction had still not begun, and Santa Fe Gaming had yet to obtain financing or city approval for the project.
[9] Up to that point, the Culinary Workers Union, which was in a dispute with the northwest Santa Fe resort, gathered 2,500 community opponents to the concept of a casino connected to the mall.
That month, Santa Fe Gaming chose to delay connecting the project to the mall until after the new resort was opened.
The project would now include 300 hotel rooms in a 147-foot tower, a 73,316 sq ft (6,811.3 m2) casino, an ice rink with seating for 886 people, and a 1,000-seat theater.
Construction was expected to begin by late June 1998, with July 15 as a deadline; otherwise, Santa Fe Gaming would need to reapply for a special-use permit.
Site preparation was underway in December 1998, with digging for the hotel tower's foundation expected to begin at the end of the month, followed by concrete pouring two weeks later.