The Nevada Gaming Commission unanimously okayed Genting Berhad’s ambitious Resorts World Las Vegas development on the site of the former Stardust Resort and Casino.
Genting already is busy placing the utilities infrastructure for the site and anticipates a 2019 opening. Construction activity will accelerate after the summer heat goes away, Genting said.
It’s the first full-scale resort development on the Las Vegas Strip since the Great Recession, and Gaming Commission Chairman Tony Alamo was impressed with Genting’s multinational and highly diverse structure, which includes healthcare and agricultural operations, in addition to resorts and hospitality.
Genting operates more than 5,000 slot machines at its Resorts World New York facility, which New York gaming regulators recently approved to expand to 5,530 slots. Genting also manages a casino for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe in Massachusetts.
Genting plans to build a hotel with about 3,100 rooms, plus a 150,000-squre-foot casino and massive Chinese garden at the Chinese-themed resort. The resort’s signature feature is to be a 50-foot Chinese lantern, and a “Celestial sphere” will flash images of casino guests.
Malaysia-based Genting is proceeding with the project despite declining visitation from Chinese gamblers. The Chinese government in recent years has discouraged its citizens from making gambling trips overseas, which has hurt baccarat revenues on the Las Vegas Strip.
Some market analysts say Resorts World Las Vegas should help to spur economic activity on the north end of the Las Vegas Strip. Others suggest it’s a bad move at a time when Chinese gamblers are coming to Las Vegas in declining numbers.
Genting says it will market the resort to wealthy Chinese gamblers. With the Chinese government cracking down on gambling trips, Genting might have to focus those marketing efforts on wealthy Chinese living in Singapore and other locales, as well as to those in China.
Genting in 2013 paid $350 million for the prime real estate on the west side of the Las Vegas Strip near Wynn Resorts. Boyd Gaming planned to build its $4 billion Echelon Place resort on the site, but the Great Recession halted those plans, as it did many others.
Genting operates several Resorts Worlds properties around the world in Malaysia, Singapore, The Philippines, UK, and in New York.
