Plans for a potential 1,000-room expansion are being strongly considered at Wynn Resorts. The Strip property would be centered around a 38-acre lagoon and host activities such as water skiing, paddle boarding and parasailing throughout the day, and a fireworks display at night.
Tentatively named ‘Wynn Paradise Park’, the project would cost an estimate of $1.5 billion to build, and if the work is started later this year as planned, it would open in 2020.
The Resort’s Chairman and CEO Steve Wynn described the plan at a company investment conference on Wednesday.
“We have a chance to reinvent Las Vegas and make the whole venue an entertainment attraction … an idyllic beach paradise surrounded by white sand beaches,” Wynn told investors. “People come to Las Vegas from all over the world to live large and have a good time and we can dish up an irresistible entertainment attraction.”
In order for the project to take place, an approval from the Wynn directors’ board would be required. For several weeks, reports have been made about Wynn considering a new development on a neighboring golf course, which would take advantage of the city’s solid conventions industry.
There is a large variety of attractions in the plans, including a lake lined with white sand beaches where the firework show would take place, a 1,000-room tower, and several food and beverage outlets; all of which will be built on the 130-acre, 18-hole Golf Club.
A company spokesman said that the destiny of the golf course is still undetermined.
The Wynn and Encore Las Vegas complex presently consists of multiple rooms, a casino, food and beverage outlets with celebrity chefs, showrooms, nightclubs and spas. It also has a large retail space that is currently being expanded by over 75,000 square feet opening in the coming year.
Joseph Greff, who wrote the J.P. Morgan investment report on the investment conference, said that the new hospitality facility could entice new customers and nongaming discretionary dollars with all the activities visualized on the lake.
“Wynn management also called out the importance (and) value of water rights in Las Vegas, as the only other property that has comparable water rights to Wynn is Bellagio, essentially limiting any competition,” Greff reported. “Bellagio’s water rights are tied to its fountains.”
Greff stated that by 2020, the market could easily absorb the approximate 1 percent increase in room capacity on The Strip brought in by Wynn Paradise Park.
The company is concurrently undertaking two major construction projects; The Wynn Palace, which is being built on the Cotai Strip in Macau, expected to open in July or August, and the Wynn Boston Harbor, in Everett, Massachusetts, which could be open by 2019.
The plans were published as tourism indicators continue to increase. The Strip’s occupancy rate was 88.2 percent and the room rate $131.40 in February, compared to the same time last year at 85.9 percent and $125.30, according to Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority figures.
Wynn shares were one of the leading gainers Thursday on Wall Street, adding $10.44, or 11.66 percent, to close at $99.99.
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