But they insist the SLS Las Vegas will draw new visitors who are already fans of Mr. Nazarian's night life and hotel empire in other parts of the country.
Ms. Nazarian is one of the primary shareholders of Nazarian Enterprises, a venture capital group with investments in green energy, and SBE, an entertainment group that owns several luxury hotels, restaurants and nightclubs.
In Las Vegas, Mr. Nazarian and Terry Fancher, a Stockbridge executive managing director, have struggled to find affordable financing for the Sahara project partly because a glut of new rooms have kept rates down.