On December 5, Durango Casino Resort opened its doors for the first time, representing the first ground-up locals casino in southern Nevada in over 10 years.
Now that the $780 million resort is up and running, the question remains as to what the future holds for the locals sector in and around Las Vegas, both for Durango’s owners, Red Rock Resorts, and others.
On Red Rock’s most recent quarterly earnings call, the company’s President Scott Kreeger told investors that Durango “is performing above our expectations,” as reported by the Nevada Independent.
“We think that it’s right on track. We’re working through the efficiencies of Durango and everything is really trending as we expected,” Kreeger continued.
According to company officials, two-thirds of Durango’s revenue stream thus far has come directly from the gaming floor, and Red Rock is already planning the resort’s second phase, which will include an infusion of additional hotel rooms, entertainment offerings and restaurants.
Despite the fact that the company owns several other undeveloped sites encompassing 500-plus acres throughout the Las Vegas Valley, however, there doesn’t appear to be any more developments coming for the remainder of the year.
Per the Independent, Red Rock CEO Frank Fertitta III said on the recent call that “in 2025 we will be in a position to evaluate which new projects we should be bringing online.”
The next most likely project for Red Rock will be its 49-acre site in the Inspirada community of west Henderson—the company already received approval from the Henderson Planning Commission last November for a property called Inspirada Station, but no development dates have been released thus far.
Now that Red Rock appears to be done for now, the company’s chief competitors, Boyd Gaming, are also staying pat for the time being, preferring instead to invest in its current holdings.
“Room remodels and new restaurants provide a great return [to] keep a strong balance sheet and low leverage that allows us flexibility if something interesting comes along,” Smith told the Independent. “[Mergers and acquisitions] happen on its own time frame.”
With regard to Durango, Boyd operates two casinos that are both eight miles away, those being Orleans and Suncoast. Smith said Durango’s opening hasn’t had any “significant impact” on those operations.
Smith also confirmed to the Independent that he had in fact visited Durango, which he called “a beautiful building.”
“Those folks do a great job building and operating properties,” he continued. “I’m sure it’s going to be very successful in the long run.”
