Two casino acquisitions representing a major reshuffling of the lucrative Las Vegas locals gaming market are moving forward with the approval of the Nevada Gaming Commission.
In the first, the regulatory agency cleared Red Rock Resorts’ $312.5 million deal to acquire the 700-room Palms Casino Resort on Flamingo Road just west of the Strip together with 600 adjoining condominiums.
In the second, Boyd Gaming was OK’d to take over the 211-room Aliante Casino and Hotel in North Las Vegas for $280 million.
Aliante, which was opened in 2008 by Station Casinos, the locals giant that was reorganized out of bankruptcy in 2011 to become Red Rock Resorts, will be Boyd’s second casino in North Las Vegas pending regulatory approval of its purchase of the Cannery Casino and Hotel for $230 million.
Boyd believes the purchases will position it on the right side of an economic recovery under way in North Las Vegas, with 20,000 new homes reported under construction there and 120,000 new jobs in the offing with the arrival over the next five years of Faraday Future, Hyperloop One and affiliated companies.
The Palms also has a Station Casinos tie—the Fertitta family, which owns a controlling interest in Red Rock, was an original investor in the Palms when it first opened under private ownership in November 2001.
For Red Rock the Palms’ sizable F&B offering, 2,500-seat theater, 14-screen multiplex/IMAX cinema, swimming pool and 60,000 square feet of meeting and convention space—provides a resort product that feels like it’s on the Strip but can be marketed to Las Vegas residents as well.
It will be the 11th Las Vegas casino for Station, which still operates as its own brand under the Red Rock umbrella, and the 22nd for Red Rock nationwide.
Aliante will be Boyd’s 10th property in Southern Nevada and the 22nd in its corporate portfolio.
