Silverado: Новий проект казино у Лас-Вегасі, запропонований відносно невідомим місцевим девелопером

Комісія з зонування Кларк-каунті отримала пропозицію щодо нового казино в Лас-Вегасі у мікрорайоні Enterprise, одразу на південь від Лас-Вегас Стріп. Ochoa Development Corporation — місцева компанія з нерухомості, яка не має досвіду у казино, що робить цей проект досить цікавим. Це також не буде величезним курортом; за описом дизайну та масштабом планових креслень виглядає доволі скромно.

Нові казино у Вегасі з’являються нечасто, особливо так близько до Лас-Вегас Стріп. Сучасна тенденція більше схиляється до оновлення чи розширення існуючих казино, або до їхньої передачі в інші руки та ребрендингу. Середньорозмірне казино, що відкривається за 5 миль на південь від Стріп, від відносно невідомого гравця без великого партнера, є справжньою несподіванкою.

Пропоноване казино Silverado

The project is being called Silverado, but that could just be a temporary placeholder name until a final one is made. It first came to broader gaming audiences when the Las Vegas Review повідомив, що новий готельно-казино може бути збудовано just South of the Las Vegas Strip. Silverado is going to sit on the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Richmar Avenue, in Enterprise, which is about 10 minutes by car from the казино Лас-Вегас Стріп, but that doesn’t mean it is necessarily a remote location. Nearby, you have the South Point Hotel Casino & Spa, the Silverton Casino Lodge, and Alamo Casino. In fact, this location is close to both the Harry Reid International Airport and the Henderson Executive Airport, making it a prime location for travelers who want Vegas but prefer to stay a little outside of the inner zone of Син Сіті.

The planning and development documents of Silverado indicate the development will be split into two construction phases, starting with a 300-room hotel and a casino, followed by six-story 150-room hotel tower. The gaming floor space is estimated to be around 57,000 square feet in size, but no information was released about the types of games or gaming machines it may have. What we do know is this probably won’t be one of those bigger, flashy modern types of gaming venues, with the agenda describing: “Cladding and stucco panels, pitched roofs comprised of shingles and windows of various shapes and sizes to break up the facade”.

Hardly a sleek, shapely glazed design that the Strip has come to be known for.

Амбітне чи безглузде підприємство

Ochoa Development bought the 13.5-acre site in Enterprise, which was vacant and undeveloped. A real estate company with no established background in casinos or gaming, it makes for an interesting story. Just why would a real estate company buy land to build a modestly sized casino just a stone’s throw from the Vegas Strip? After all,

• У нього є конкуренція-лідер
• У них немає досвіду у розробці казино
• Не підтверджено жодних партнерств з операторами чи постачальниками ігор

Las Vegas does have a history of announced casinos that never materialize. Right now, Silverado is in the planning approval stage, and if they pass that, the developers still need to secure financing, partner with some gaming operator, begin construction, and then launch the casino.

Рідкість будівництва казино у Вегасі «з нуля»

Add “building a Vegas casino from scratch” to that list too, because this is also high risk, even for the bigger companies. Las Vegas is always associated with building larger and more extravagant resorts, but ground-up developments are a rarity in the modern day and age. Resorts World Las Vegas opened in 2021, and was the first resort built from scratch in over a decade. While the infrastructure and building itself was completely new, it wasn’t entirely the same scenario as Silverado, because Resorts World Las Vegas was built on the site of the former Stardust Resort and Casino. So the site already had the association with casinos.

Another “new” casino was the Fontainebleau Las Vegas, which opened in 2023 but had a pretty turbulent backstory. Jeff Soffer, the owner of Turnberry Associates, bought the land (on the site of the former El Rancho Hotel and Casino), and construction began in 2007, but it stalled amid financial issues in 2009 and sat unfinished. It was bought by Carl Icahn in 2010, but he decided not to finish the project, and then it was snapped up by investment firms Witkoff Group and New Valley LLC, who delayed the development until Soffer rebought the project in 2021. He finished it in 2023, ending a 16-year story of bankruptcy, exchanging hands and halted construction.

Another new casino development is also in the pipeline, but its future is not as certain. Bally’s is planning to build a resort near the Athletics’ Las Vegas Ballpark (on the former Tropicana site). The resort would comprise a 3,000 room hotel, a casino and a 2,500 seat entertainment venue. There was a rumour that Bally’s would sell the $1.1 billion project if the right buyer came along, but no announcement was made by the August 20 deadline, so it seems that it will go ahead as planned.

And those last two stories are far closer to how the business of “building” new casinos in Vegas actually works. It is not so much a fairytale startup by unknowns, but a cycle of acquisitions and mergers, development and renovation, or buyouts and takeovers. Uncompleted projects, shifting ownership and perennial expansions are common themes for a Vegas casino.

Hard Rock та нові казино у Вегасі

The most hyped up new development in Sin City right now is Hard Rock Vegas, a complete renovation of the former Mirage Casino. Mirage, which opened in 1989, was the first of the mega resorts on the Las Vegas Strip, and pretty much paved the way for the modern fully integrated casino resorts. This casino launched the wave of new casino resorts that cropped up in the 1990s, many of which are still around today (with possible mergers, ownership changes, takeovers and all).

The Mirage was owned by Mirage Resorts originally, but then was bought by MGM Resorts in 2000, who held it until 2021, when Hard Rock International acuiqred the Mirage’s operations for $1.075 billion. The Mirage was expected to continue running throughout the transition, but then in 2024 it closed permanently. Since then, Hard Rock has began to renovate the entire development, changing the massive three-wing towering building and demolishing the famous volcano – in exchange for a massive glazed guitar building (to gel in with Hard Rock’s theme).

This highly anticipated project is expected to open in 2027, and looks set to become one of the most important venues in Vegas.

Менший ринок казино у Вегасі

Should a project like Silverado make it past the council, to the construction table and then finally open its doors, it will hardly give competition to a project the size of Hard Rock’s Las Vegas Casino. It is not a casino resort like those, and neither is it a historic casino like the ones you would find in Fremont Street. No, this is likely to be one of those casinos that pitches to tourists, but it may also tap into the local market too.

This local market is quite an intriguing one, as we touched upon in our report on Poker Palace Vegas’ reopening – where we analyzed the main players in the local market venue.

There is a substantial “middle tier” casino market in Vegas that is not as heavily reliant on tourists as the Vegas Strip. Less flashy, but perhaps these are also the types of venues that score big with locals because they are more intimate. And while they won’t facilitate the high limit slots machines, VIP gaming experiences or the razzle and dazzle, many mid-tier casinos can make a name of themselves by providing games with lower entry levels than the high stakes Vegas Strip venues, which can attract more casuals and lower-budget gamers.

Що далі для Silverado

The Clark County Zoning Commission will consider the proposal in a meeting on September 2. This is the first hurdle that the Ochoa Development Corp. would need to clear, but it is nowhere near a guarantee that Silverado will come to fruition. Not having a gaming operator announced is also a bit of a concern. If it were a project that was partnered with some local or mid-tier gaming company, there would be less speculation, and perhaps this may also help boost the project’s credibility in the eyes of the Zoning Commission.

On the other hand, if this does get the green light, it would send out a pretty positive signal towards any smaller gaming firms or companies with no previous history in casinos. Because it would represent the possibility for eager and hungry newcomers to enter one of the world’s most competitive gaming markets. The high stakes and tough competition can make it a cutthroat environment for such players, but if this relatively unknown local real estate company can pull it off, it would serve as a strong example of the American Dream.