First new construction since 2010
It’s been a year since Malaysian gaming giant Genting Group announced plans to build a massive resort on the Las Vegas Strip. Though there have been few signs of life at the site, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that the project is ongoing.
Genting representatives and government officials say the Strip’s first all-new resort complex since 2010 will begin construction this year. Resorts World Las Vegas will be an Asian-themed hotel-casino with 3,500 rooms. It will cost between $2 billion and $7 billion, the Review-Journal reported.
Genting bought the 87-acre property from Boyd Gaming for $350 million, taking over the site of Boyd’s former Echelon project. Echelon bit the dust during the recession, along with other Strip developments.
Genting spokesman Stefan Friedman said Genting’s top U.S. executive, Senior Vice President of Development Christian Goode, has relocated to the West Coast from Miami to oversee the development.
“By the next anniversary, the site will look much different,” Friedman said. “We really have been flying under the radar.”
With market capitalization in excess of $40 billion, Genting operates casinos around the world, including Resorts World-branded properties in Singapore, Malaysia, Manila and at the Aqueduct Racetrack in New York City.
“The group is undergoing regulatory investigations by the Nevada gaming board, which is one of the strictest you can get,” Genting Chairman Thay told Bloomberg News. “I’m quite confident we’ll obtain this license and only with that we’ll commence the construction.”
Gaming Control Board Chairman A.G. Burnett the board is working to put Genting’s suitability hearing “on the soonest possible agenda,” perhaps in May or June.
“This may be the largest company we have ever investigated,” Burnett said. “Genting involves multiple industry segments with multiple publicly traded companies. Our agents are overseas, still conducting follow-up work.”
