New owners of Stirling Club plan for reopening “L
AST DANCE” was the last song played at the Stirling Club the night of May 17, 2012. And for nearly six years, Donna Summer’s disco send-off really did seem to spell the end of the regal recreation annex at Turnberry Place.
But it’s time to dust off the mirrored ball. The Stirling Club has been purchased, and the buyers who just paid $12 million for the place are ready to party.
“We have every intention of returning all the amenities to the Stirling Club,” says investment partner Richard Ditton of the newly formed DK Hospitality management company, which paid about $12.4 million for the property. “I’d love to be open by New Year’s Eve. That’s ambitious, but you have to start somewhere.”
If Ditton’s goals seem sky high, know that he’s a former NASA software engineer (his technology was used on the space shuttle) and co-founder of the amusement-game corporation Incredible Technologies.
Ditton is an otherwise “silent” partner in the Stirling Club, contributing equity
(and also his perspective as an actual resident of Turnberry Place). DK Hospitality President Debra Kelleher is heading up the specific tasks of returning the Stirling Club to is luxurious past.
The purchase was made final Wednesday.
The sale represents the latest twist in the Stirling Club’s aged saga. Covering nearly 80,000 square feet, the facility opened in 2001 as an exclusive club for Turnberry Place residents at 2827 Paradise Road. The main Stirling building sits on a 3-acre parcel with tennis courts, a fully furnished gym, a cigar room, dining room and several conference rooms. Its princely appointed main building is decorated in wood, brass and a staircase layered in red carpet.
The scene was percolating until the decline hit, prompting owners Jeffrey and Jackie Soffer, and their company, Turnberry Associates, to close the club and put it up for sale in 2012. In October 2013, a group of Silicon Valley investors purchased the Stirling Club for $10.9 million, far less than the $44 million it cost to build in 2002.
The Stirling Club will be far more imaginative about monetizing its services that it was in the old days, when its 700 or so residents simply paid $400 per month and had the run of the place. Kelleher says her company plans to offer different levels of memberships. The Stirling Club also will be available for corporate and private functions, as The Drew Las Vegas (formerly the Fontainebleau) and the Convention Center expansion open in the neighborhood in the next few years.
And the club will be open to the public, too, even in the form of a cover charge for the lounge.
“We have a lot of work ahead of us,” Kelleher said. “But what is happening at the Stirling Club today is really good news.”
And, this …
Jerry Lewis’ family home for 35 years is up for sale.
The two-story home in the Scotch 80s planned community in downtown Las Vegas carries a listing price of $1.4 million. The home at 1701 Waldman Ave. was listed late Wednesday.
Lewis died at the home
Aug. 20. He was 91.
Jerry and his wife, Sam Lewis, moved there in March 1983, about a month after they were married. The couple had previously lived at the Las Vegas Country Club. The property on which the residence sits dates to 1964, but the house itself was built in 1982, Sam Lewis says.
“This house was filled with
so many memories of friends and celebrities, plus the fact of raising our daughter, Danielle, in this house,” Lewis said Thursday. “I’m sure my husband’s memory will forever be associated with this house. Upon returning from every trip or tour, the first words out of his mouth when he arrived home were, ‘I love my home.’”
The Scotch 80s, filled with custom homes, dates to the 1950s. It is bordered by Interstate 15 to the east, by Charleson Boulevard to the north, Oakey Boulevard to the south and Rancho Drive to the west.
The two-story Lewis estate sits behind a white, wroughtiron gate and covers 7,325 square feet, with six bedrooms and six baths, a bar, an elevator, a separate casita, an office and expansive backyard with a swimming pool.
The home’s listing agent is Michael Mcgraw of Northcap Residential in Las Vegas.
Lewis’ neighbors over the years have included Oscar and Carolyn Goodman and legendary comic Shecky Greene. Big names who have lived in the nearby Rancho Circle Estates village have included Sammy Davis Jr., Phyllis Mcguire, Brandon Flowers of the Killers, and the Vegas power couple: Insomniac founder Pasquale Rotella and actress/author Holly Madison.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at jkatsilometes@ reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @ Johnnykats1 on Instagram. As of 9 p.m. Thursday:
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Three Centennial High School students were killed Thursday morning in Southern California when their vehicle was struck by an intoxicated driver while they were enjoying their spring break, according to a family member of one of the victims. 2. Family of 8 dies when SUV goes off cliff in California
A family that gained attention for an emotional photograph of an AfricanAmerican boy hugging a white police officer at a
2014 protest was killed when their SUV plunged off a scenic California highway, authorities said Wednesday as they asked for help figuring out what happened. 3. North Las Vegas man shot dead after answering his front door
North Las Vegas police responded about 6:30 a.m. to the 2500 block of Daley Street, near Las Vegas Boulevard North and East Carey Avenue, where officers found a man in his 40s with a gunshot wound.
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Power was fully restored after the Bellagio was hit with a partial power outage late Thursday morning, officials said.