Dive Brief:
- The $4 billion Resorts World Las Vegas hotel-casino project is now a go after the Clark County zoning commission approved the 87.8-acre former site of the Stardust Hotel and Casino for a 7,000-room hotel and arena/conference center, the Las Vegas Review Journal reported. Malaysian-based developer Genting Berhad purchased the site in 2013 for $350 million.
- Construction workers are completing the project's parking garages in advance of building construction slated to start this summer, but Genting has yet to hire a construction manager for the elaborate complex, which Genting said features a Chinese-themed architectural design, the Review-Journal reported.
- Genting said the project's first phase is scheduled to open in 2018 and will bring 30,000 construction jobs to Las Vegas, as well as 13,000 permanent jobs, the Review-Journal reported.
Dive Insight:
Genting said the resort's first phase will include a 3,307-room tower with more than 657,000 square feet of public spaces, including a movie theater and convention center, all with "modern interpretations" of Chinese themes like the Forbidden City. Other features in the first phase are a 29,350 square foot lake and Chinese garden.
Genting said it also has plans for a 175,000 square foot casino but would like to include an aquarium, panda exhibit, indoor water park and a replica of the Great Wall of China as well, the Review-Journal reported.
Genting owns and operates resorts and casinos worldwide, including the ill received Resorts World New York, which is New York City’s first casino.
Wynn Resorts also had big casino-related news this week when it announced a $1 billion agreement with Suffolk Construction to build its three million square foot resort-casino complex five miles north of Boston in Everett, MA. The Suffolk deal is one of the largest private construction contracts ever awarded in Massachusetts and promises to create 4,000 union construction jobs and 4,000 permanent jobs once the complex is open.
Wynn won the only casino license set aside for the region but will still have competition from the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, which plans to build and operate its $500 million First Light Resort & Casino approximately 50 miles south of Wynn's resort.
