Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Locals casinos expand

Expansion is the key word for three local gaming companies as they continue the ever-present battle for market share.

Expansion was a topic of focus for Rio Hotel & Casino Inc., Boyd Gaming Corp. and Station Casinos Inc. as executives presented corporate profiles to investment analysts Thursday at the American Gaming Summit.

In February, Rio will debut its fifth expansion in six years. The $200 million project will add 1,028 suites, 30,000 square feet of gaming space and 1,350 new restaurant seats to the Brazilian-themed resort on West Flamingo Road.

A highlight of the Mardi Gras-themed Masquerade Village will be a "parade in the sky" complete with floats moving along a track 13 feet above the casino floor featuring three rotating shows. "You'll never see the same show exactly," said Rio President James Barrett Jr.

The interactive show, which will run for 12 minutes every two hours, begins every two hours and will allow up to 25 guests to ride on three different floats.

The expansion will make the Rio "a bona fide Strip property overlooking the Las Vegas Strip," Barrett said. Advertising will bill the Rio as "The party that never ends -- the resort that you'll never want to leave," he said.

Scheduled to open next summer is Station Casino Inc.'s Sunset Station on Sunset Road at U.S. 95. "It will be the best locals site in Las Vegas," Glenn Christenson, executive vice president and chief financial officer of the company told summit attendees.

Situated on 100 acres in the middle of the fastest-growing commercial corridor in Southern Nevada, Sunset Station will feature an 85,000-square-foot casino, more than 500 hotel rooms, a 13-screen movie theater, seven restaurants, 2,300 slot and video poker machines, 40 table games, retail space and quick-food service outlets.

Station Casinos is currently third in Southern Nevada behind Circus Circus and Boyd Gaming both in square footage and number of slots. With the opening of Sunset Station, it will surpass Boyd and become second in those two areas, Christenson said.

Boyd Gaming recently spent more than $60 million renovating Main Street Station, which opened two weeks ago on Main Street at Ogden Avenue.

"We took a very attractive facility and made it more attractive," said Ellis Landau, senior vice president, treasurer and chief financial officer of Boyd Gaming Corp.

So far, Main Street's crowds and revenue have been good, but it's a bit early to be able to release specific results, he said.

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