Herald: South Beach's Opium plans Las Vegas venues

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Posted on Wed, Apr. 18, 2007
South Beach's Opium plans Las Vegas venues

BY CHRISTINA HOAG

The Opium Group is venturing into Sin City.

The owner of four of South Beach's hippest nightspots is investing more than $4 million in three clubs in Las Vegas, as part of the new Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino unveiled Tuesday. Opium will operate all the clubs.

''We're exporting the Miami brand,'' said Roman Jones, managing partner of Opium, which runs Opium Lounge, Mansion and Set and has plans for more locales in Miami Beach. ``We definitely want to recreate the vibe that we have.''

Opium is the latest in a wave of enterprises over the past couple of years flowing from South Florida to Vegas, whose glitz shows no signs of tarnish.

Fort Lauderdale restaurateur Steve Martorano just opened a branch of his popular old-school Italian cuisine Café Martorano in the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. And Sharif Malnik, owner of Miami Beach restaurant-club icon The Forge, is close behind, currently in the stage of market-research forays.

They join Miami Beach's landmark Joe's Stone Crab restaurant, Ocean Drive magazine and a host of condo developers from throughout South Florida, including Fortune International and Turnberry Associates, that have all planted stakes in the desert city.

For businesses related to entertainment, Vegas parallels South Florida in many ways -- the churning tide of tourists, the nightlife that doesn't quit, the presence of almost as many celebrities as high-wattage light bulbs.

''I saw a great synergy going back and forth between Miami and Vegas,'' said Jones, who first started looking into a Vegas venture two years ago. The first Vegas club Opium will open is Living Room, billed as a ''sexy lounge,'' followed by nightclub Privé in September, with a third boite to debut in the fall.

Malnik, for his part, called Vegas a ''tremendously hot spot'' and cites its penchant for excess as a lure for a restaurant that boasts white-gloved waiters.

''What we do is kind of over the top, and Vegas presents an interesting opportunity to be even more over the top,'' he said. ``It has that demand.''

TOURISM CONNECTIONS

For upscale restaurants and entertainment spots, it can make sense to branch out to another tourism-oriented city rather than open more locations in the same market, said Alino Azevedo, hospitality group manager for Ernst & Young in Miami. Since the number of people able to afford pricey dinners is limited, the local market may not generate much growth. But a location in another tourist city could draw both new clientele and visitors familiar with the brand.

''The same kind of upscale tourists that come to Miami go to those destinations,'' he said. ``And because these restaurants are famous in Miami, tourists want to visit them if they had a good experience.''

The danger with far-flung expansion, though, is maintaining quality.

''You have to have the adequate infrastructure behind you,'' Azevedo said. ``If a consumer has a bad experience, it's damaging the brand, including the original location.''

Floridians are far from the only ones caught under the Las Vegas spell. According to a Bizjournals study, the Las Vegas area's job base has mushroomed by 5.6 percent annually since 2001. Las Vegas added 45,900 jobs last year.

''The catalyst is the casino industry. It's a great spin-off business,'' said Steve Van Gorp, redevelopment manager for the city of Las Vegas. ``It's no surprise to us that we're getting interest from Florida.''

He noted that Las Vegas draws more than 39 million visitors and 75,000 new residents annually -- attractive numbers for businesses.

REAL ESTATE

The Vegas-South Florida connection extends to real estate, too. A number of South Florida condo developers have entered the market, including Turnberry Associates of Aventura, Fortune International of Miami, WSG Development of Miami Beach and Royal Palm Communities of Boca Raton.
Las Vegas is no guaranteed success. The Related Group pulled out of a much-vaunted $3 billion condo high-rise project last year after construction costs spiraled. But Opium's Jones said he feels confident because his venture is located in a branded-resort hotel.

''If you open outside the casino, it's a little tricky,'' he said.