If casino giant Genting Group bought abandoned resort property on Las Vegas Boulevard in 2013 with plans for an expensive project, the deal raised hopes for the sleepy north end of the Strip.

The area has been devastated by abandoned hotel projects and vast stretches of land where great visions have never materialized. Pedestrian traffic was sparse, the area was poorly lit and overall it was just quiet, especially compared to the casino boulevard a few miles away.

“It was dead,” recalls developer Lorenzo Doumani.

Eight years later, Genting is slated to open its long-planned Resorts World Las Vegas project on June 24th. The North Strip is no longer in the distress it used to be, but the new hotel could attract more tourists to the area and, if history repeats itself, a flurry of visitors overall to Las Vegas, America’s newest offering Want to see casino capital.

The $ 4.3 billion project is said to be an eye-catching property with lots of star power and is the first newly built mega-resort to debut on the Strip in more than a decade – all at a time when the tourism industry is calling Las Vegas ‘backbone of the locals’ economy is starting to take hold being crushed by the coronavirus pandemic.

“We’re headed in the right direction, but we’re still a long way from recovering from it,” said Jeremy Agüero, a director of Applied Analysis consulting firm in Las Vegas.

Great deals

Resorts World, on the site of the former bullied Stardust, was originally slated to open in 2016. But the debut kept getting pushed back, and it was all too common in real estate circles for people to ask, “What’s wrong with? Resorts world? “

The property, which has undergone design changes, is huge in every way, offering 3,500 rooms, more than 40 dining options, a 5.5 hectare pool complex, a 27,000 square meter spa, a theater with a capacity of 5,000 people, 250,000 square feet of meeting space and a 117,000 square foot casino.

The collection of retail stores is said to include a Kardashian Kloset pop-up shop selling items from the reality TV family’s personal closets and the resort offers a number of scheduled concerts by Celine Dion, Katy Perry, Carrie Underwood, and Luke Bryan, who will all be playing multiple shows.

Miley Cyrus is also scheduled to appear there at a grand opening ceremony on July 4th, which will be broadcast on the 100,000 square meter outdoor LED screen of the skyscraper.

Resorts World also has an affiliation with Hilton, which analysts say could attract many guests looking to earn or use points with the hotel chain.

“Shinyest New Property”

Industry watchers told the review journal that Resorts World may pull customers away from competitors first. Macquarie Capital analyst Chad Beynon, for example, believes that other high-end properties “will lose some business at least early on,” given the number of rooms at Resorts World.

Also, simply being the newest destination in town gives people a reason to go in.

People “want to see the brightest new property on the Strip,” said Barry Jonas, an analyst with Truist Securities.

Casinos rely on a lot of pedestrian traffic. According to Applied Analysis’s Aguero, the average Las Vegas visitor visits five hotels during their stay, and resorts will have guests eager to find the new one.

Overall tourism in Las Vegas has often spiked when a mega-resort opens as people are drawn to the city for the new property.

“That makes Vegas an even bigger attraction,” said Doumani, who is expecting the groundbreaking this fall at the Majestic Las Vegas, a non-gaming hotel on the North Strip.

Alan Feldman, Distinguished Fellow for Responsible Gaming at the UNLV’s International Gaming Institute, said that over the past 30 years “new resorts have almost always expanded the market and attracted new visitors”.

Feldman, a former long-time manager at MGM Resorts International, said “all stars seem to be aligning with Resorts World debut,” which he believes will spur more tourism and higher room rates across the market.

Trips to Las Vegas are already on the rise, and Feldman said Resorts World is bringing “new consumer energy” with its amenities.

There are always customers who want to see the “latest and greatest,” but Genting could also attract visitors from Asia as international travel restrictions ease, according to Michael Parks, a hotel and casino specialist at real estate agent CBRE Group.

Genting, based in Malaysia, has offices in its home country and in Singapore, among others, including New York. On the Strip, Resorts World should feature a live panda exhibit and a replica of the Great Wall early on through all of the design and amenities, ”Scott Sibella, president of Resorts World Las Vegas, told the Review Journal.

Also, with the economy reopening, vaccines will be introduced and Coronavirus restrictions are canceled, tourism has gained momentum overall.

As Jonas of Truist Securities noted, people want to visit Las Vegas after they haven’t come or gone anywhere in a year.

“Finally come to life”

Boyd Gaming Corp. imploded the Stardust in 2007 to make way for its multi-billion dollar Echelon project, but halted construction in the summer of 2008 when the once tumultuous economy stumbled.

The unfinished casino was one of many abandoned projects that littered the valley after the insane bubble burst in the mid-2000s, and one in a long line of failed oversized projects on the Northern Strip.

When Genting bought the property, there were two disused, partially built resort projects on that section of Las Vegas Boulevard, Echelon and Fontainebleau; the vacant former New Frontier site, where plans by Israeli investors for a newly built luxury resort have come to nothing; the empty former water park area of ​​Wet ‘n’ Wild, where multiple plans, including a 142-story casino resort, have never left the drawing board; and the closed Sahara that was straight turns into the SLS Las Vegas.

Today the North Strip is no longer busy everywhere. The former New Frontier site – now owned by Wynn Resorts Ltd. – and the Wet ‘n’ Wild property – the property of Along stable arena and hotel project by ex-NBA player Jackie Robinson – remain undeveloped. Also the more than 60-story Fontainebleau is still not done more than a decade after it went bankrupt under the original developers.

However, the SLS switched hands after a volatile start in 2018, and the new owner embarked on a $ 150 million overhaul and renamed the property Sahara Las Vegas. The Fontainebleau was repurchased from its old builder in February, albeit with no indication of when it opened, and the construction of Resorts World has brought many people and activities to this once serene site.

Also the nearby Las Vegas Convention Center recently opened completed a $ 1 billion expansion that brought the facility even closer to the strip. The first big fair In the US since the pandemic, the World of Concrete took place this month in the new West Hall of the convention center.

Southern Nevadans have long predicted a turnaround on the northern strip, largely thanks to the long-planned entry of Resorts World.

That resurgence, said CBRE’s Parks, “is finally coming to life”.

Contact Eli Segall at esegall@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342. consequences @eli_segall on twitter.

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