Station Casinos to Revive Long-Stalled Durango Casino Project

Nevada-based gambling properties operator Station Casinos is planning to revive a long-stalled project for the development of a hotel and casino complex on a portion of land in southwest Las Vegas Valley.

During a Wednesday Q2 earnings call for Station parent company, Red Rock Resorts, CFO Stephen Cootey said that the future property will be built on a 71-acre parcel on South Durango Drive not far from 215 Beltway.

The resort will feature a 100,000-square-foot casino with 2,000 slot machines, 40 table games, and a “state-of-the-art” sportsbook, a hotel with over 200 room sand suites, and four food and beverage outlets, among other amenities.

Station CEO Frank Fertitta III said that their primary focus right now is namely on the unnamed Durango project and that they think it presents a “great development opportunity” in the most underserved part of the Las Vegas Valley.

The Wednesday comments were the first time the casino operator provided more comprehensive details regarding the scheme since May when Mr. Fertitta said they were targeting early 2022 to break ground on the Durango casino complex.

Station has owned the portion of land where the property is set to be developed since 2000. However, construction work has never had the chance to kick off. According to the original plan, development was expected to start in 2009 and the resort was projected to be complete by 2011, but the global recession foiled that timeline.

Company Now Has the Money to Revive the Scheme

A 2008 site plan showed that the property would feature two hotel towers, a casino, movie theater, and a couple of retail buildings. It is to be seen how much of those originally planned facilities would be kept into the revived project.

Mr. Fertitta said Wednesday that they are in the process of finalizing designs and contract bids. Station officials were also unable to provide a cost estimate. The company’s CEO said he hopes they will have an actual estimate by their Q3 earnings call sometimes this fall.

Mr. Cootey pointed out that they are currently “working through the planning and budgeting phases of this project” and that they have “a goal and expectation to have a shovel in the ground in the first quarter of 2022.” Construction is expected to take between 18 and 24 months to complete.

The company’s CFO went on to add that they now have the balance sheet to restart the long-delayed project and that there is opportunity to “parse off a portion of that land” and team up with other developers to reduce overall costs.

While Station is focusing its attention on building new properties, the company has no firm timetable for the reopening of its three closed existing casinos – Fiesta Rancho, Fiesta Henderson, and Texas Station.

All three have been shuttered since the statewide closure of non-essential businesses in March 2020 to help block the spread of Covid-19. Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas is too still closed, but Station has recently entered into an agreement to sell it to the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians.

Source: Station Casinos officials offer details about Durango project, Las Vegas Review-Journal, July 28, 2021