Facing a venomous backlash, MGM Resorts International continues moving forward with implementing the first parking fees charged on the Las Vegas Strip.
The fees will begin in April at all but the Circus Circus casino on the north end of the Las Vegas Strip and at a retail center at Mandalay Bay. Other than those two locations, starting in April, MGM will charge an unknown rate for parking at its many popular casino properties.
The parking rates coincide with the opening of MGM’s T-Mobile Arena, which holds its first event on April 4 and is located between MGM’s New York-New York and Monte Carlo casino properties and their parking structures.
MGM says it also plans to build a 3,000-spot parking structure for the arena, but the new parking fees are here to stay and are long overdue.
The company conducted a two-year study, and says it concluded parking on the Las Vegas Strip did not keep pace with business developments, and now is underserved.
MGM CEO Jim Murren said the company has spent hundreds of millions of dollars developing new businesses, restaurants, and attractions without doing anything to improve its parking support.
MGM has 37,000 parking spaces along the Las Vegas Strip and spends $30 million per year to maintain them, and says parking has been a loss leader for many years.
With the cost of maintaining parking so high, a greater demand for available parking, and the high price of real estate along the Las Vegas Strip, gaming analysts say the move to paid parking makes sense.
MGM recently announced plans to build a larger $54 million parking structure behind the Excalibur casino and is investing $36 million to improve parking at its properties, where it says guests will spend up to $10 to park overnight.
While MGM has new parking fees coming, it also has a new dining and entertainment district opening April 4, two days prior to the T-Mobile Arena’s first event.
The new dining district is called the Park and complements the new 20,000-seat arena with tree-lined walks and shade structures designed to give visitors an outdoor space they can utilize all year and take a rest at seating alcoves.
The Park also will have restaurants, drinking establishments, and other attractions for visitors and Las Vegas locals to enjoy.
To help staff the Park and other MGM properties and venues, MGM announced job candidates can go online or use mobile devices to obtain information via a virtual jobs fair and submit applications for up to 700 positions it seeks to fill by summer.
MGM is hiring full- and part-time workers for non-gaming positions at pool and restaurant areas at its nine properties on the Las Vegas Strip, and at its non-gaming properties, including the Delano, Vdara, and The Signature Tower at MGM Grand.
Interested applicants can set up accounts and apply online at www.mgmresortscareers.com.
