A popular casino company known for its local-friendly resorts is eyeing a vacant lot in the Las Vegas Valley for the development of a casino. A sign at a land allotted in Las Vegas Valley for this purpose indicates a casino was planned at the site on Durango Drive. Interestingly, the company is again exploring the option of developing a project at the location.
According to reports in Las Vegas, the Red Rock Resorts is considering the design as well as the development of its property at the Durango Drive and the 215 Beltway. However, a note from an investment firm indicates that that the casino company considers this area in the Las Vegas Valley as the most underserved market in the whole region.
Before the global economic meltdown of 2008, the Red Rock Resort earmarked the site for a casino as well as a 201-room hotel. However, those plans were immediately scrapped owing to the economic downturn that plagued the world at that time. In 2017, a sign on the property indicated a 1000-room hotel and 120,000 square foot station casino resort was to be built on the site. Conversely, three years after, there is no building on the site yet.
Red Rock Resorts, the parent company of Station Casinos, in its yearly report filed earlier this year, noted that its undeveloped site in the Las Vega Valley has excellent visibility and accessibility. Hence, it will be easy to spot the casino when finally developed as well as access it from interstate 215. Furthermore, no major casinos are within five miles of the site, thus implying that the company will only face minimal competition from its competitors.
The government affairs director for the global market, Brendan Bussman, said during an interview that the property is in an area that has continued to grow. However, in an underserved section of the gaming market.
Studying the effects of Covid-19
It was not until June that casinos in Nevada reopened after the Governor of the state, Steve Sisolak, gave the green light for them to resume operation again. Prior to June, the Governor had ordered them closed when Covid-19 cases increased in early March. However, Station Casino is yet to reopen Texas station as well as Fiesta Rancho and Fiesta Henderson and the Palms. Hence, the Las Vegas area properties are not expected to reopen this year.
Furthermore, most resorts in Las Vegas are dealing with tourism slowdown, and, as such, they allow hotel room reservations only on weekends, thus indicating that the effect of the Covid-19 has not just slowed tourism as can be seen by the downturn of tourist in places that are usually packed full by tourist from around the country and other parts of the world but is having a critical effect on casinos too.
A few hotels and casinos now only allow hotel booking on weekends. Among them are the Park MGM and Planet Hollywood, as well as the LINQ. The Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino is set to resume operation on the 22 of December; however, they will not accept midweek hotel reservations until there is a need for that.
Furthermore, Encore, a resort in Las Vegas, is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and that includes the hotel and gaming area, and the management of the resort states that it is because of low consumer demand. However, the neighboring Wynn Las Vegas is opened to customers throughout the week.
An expert in the industry, Alan Friedman, revealed in an interview that the closure of Encore makes a lot of business sense. He further stated that Encore and Wynn, whose buildings are attached even though they operate as separate entities, can do more jointly.
There have, however, been high hopes in the tourism industry with the recent announcement by two big pharmaceutical companies, Pfizer and Moderna, of a COVID-19 vaccine in the pipeline. There has been a continuation of casino construction in the region, with Circa Resort the first hotel-casino built from scratch in downtown Las Vegas, opening its gaming areas as an adults-only property and some of its 777 hotel rooms scheduled to open sometime in December. There is also the Resorts World Las Vegas, which is set to launch this summer, with about 6,000 job openings being offered at this time.
