\nThe Las Vegas locals market is playing a game of \u201cWaiting for Godot.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tBut unlike Vladimir and Estragon from the Samuel Beckett play, Boyd Gaming Corp. and Station Casinos aren\u2019t waiting for some imaginary person.<\/p>\n
\tGenting Berhad will soon arrive in Las Vegas from Malaysia. The company will create thousands of construction jobs for Resorts World Las Vegas.<\/p>\n
\tSo they say.<\/p>\n
\tA spokesman for the company said an announcement about the $4 billion hotel-casino complex could come in a few weeks. Genting, which bought the former Echelon site in March 2013, was found suitable by Nevada gaming regulators last May.<\/p>\n
\tBut the 87-acre parcel and its unfinished steel and concrete structures remain untouched.<\/p>\n
\tAlthough Resorts World Las Vegas will aim for an international market, operators and analysts view the project as the fuel needed to ignite the locals gaming market.<\/p>\n
\tMore construction workers means more locals to fill Boyd and Station properties.<\/p>\n
\tUnlike the Strip, the locals market has been slow to embrace the state\u2019s economic recovery.<\/p>\n
\tOn a whole, the locals market gaming revenue through September is down less than 1 percent from 2013, according to the Gaming Control Board.<\/p>\n
\tSome areas have performed better than others.<\/p>\n
\tNorth Las Vegas casinos, primarily driven by improvements at the Aliante, are up 1.7 percent. The Boulder strip, which includes Henderson, is down 2.4 percent. The balance of Clark County has been relatively flat.<\/p>\n
\tIn September, the locals market rebounded from an August decline, posting a 6.8 percent gaming revenue gain.<\/p>\n
\tUnion Gaming Group analyst Robert Shore said the economic fundamentals \u2014 housing, wage growth, employment, and population \u2014 have been pointing in the right direction for locals casino operators.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWe continue to note an apparent lag between improving economic conditions and gaming growth,\u201d Shore said.<\/p>\n
\tBoyd Gaming CEO Keith Smith said locals customers have been comfortable spending money, but not in the amount produced before the economy tanked.<\/p>\n
\tLike the Strip, the locals market is turning to nongaming amenities to increase business.<\/p>\n
\tStation Casinos and Boyd Gaming \u2014 the locals market\u2019s dominant players \u2014 are devoting millions to improve the offerings outside the casino floor.<\/p>\n
\tStation Casinos is spending $55 million to reprogram restaurants and facilities at its two flagship properties, Red Rock Resort and Green Valley Ranch Resort.<\/p>\n
\tBoyd Gaming is evaluating its restaurant options and remodeling hotel rooms at its Coast Casinos-branded properties. Boyd will overhaul 400 rooms at the Suncoast and recently opened a new eatery attached to the race and sports book. Hotel rooms at The Orleans will also be refurbished.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThis is a really a multiyear project,\u201d Smith said. \u201cThe first phase is to re-position the existing amenities. This will be a thorough process. We\u2019re going to determine what we need to be competitive in the market.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tWells Fargo Securities gaming analyst Cameron McKnight said Boyd\u2019s locals gaming business, which had a 1 percent revenue increase in the third quarter, is already benefiting from strong nongaming business at its off-Strip resorts.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cGoing forward, management expects the improving local economy, upcoming renovations and new nongaming amenities to reinvigorate growth for these properties,\u201d McKnight said.<\/p>\n
\tThe key for the locals market, however, is Genting.<\/p>\n
\tThe company expects to employ upward of 3,000 construction workers once work begins on Resorts World Las Vegas. At its May suitability hearing, Genting officials said the development would provide $1.5 billion in construction wages.<\/p>\n
\tHistory has shown a correlation between construction jobs and locals casino profits.<\/p>\n
\tIn the heyday when the Strip was building megaresorts every other year and the housing market was flourishing, Las Vegas was home to more than 100,000 construction jobs.<\/p>\n
\tThat number has dwindled.<\/p>\n
\tMGM Resorts International has two construction projects underway.<\/p>\n
\tAt the Rock in Rio festival site on the Strip\u2019s north end, MGM Resorts has created 150 construction jobs. The figure could grow to 275 as work increases.<\/p>\n
\tAt the Strip\u2019s south end, 450 construction workers are employed at the company\u2019s Park and sports arena developments. Eventually, 1,450 construction jobs will be at the site.<\/p>\n
\tNice numbers, but not when compared with 10 years ago. Construction then was at a record high.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThe construction worker has been a traditionally strong customer,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n
\tHe hasn\u2019t spoken with Genting officials since Boyd Gaming sold them the Echelon site for $350 million. So he has zero insight on when Resorts World construction will commence.<\/p>\n
\tShore called Genting \u201ca catalyst\u201d for Boyd Gaming and other locals casino operators. They are an \u201cindirect beneficiary\u201d as construction labor and eventual permanent jobs at new and expanded Strip resorts become a draw for locals properties.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWe continue to be optimistic for a pickup in the locals market in the upcoming months driven by a confluence of factors including a continually improving Las Vegas Strip, improving economic conditions and reprogramming of assets,\u201d Shore said.<\/p>\n
\tUntil then, Boyd Gaming and Station Casinos will explore other means to capture additional consumer spending beyond the casino floor. Analysts believe that enhancing nongaming attractions will help drive spending habits in other areas of the property, including gambling pits.<\/p>\n
\tThis path should improve business, while the locals market is \u201cWaiting for Genting.\u201d<\/p>\n
No replies were posted for this topic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Las Vegas locals market is playing a game of \u201cWaiting for Godot.\u201d But unlike Vladimir and Estragon from the Samuel Beckett play, Boyd Gaming Corp. and Station Casinos aren\u2019t waiting for some imaginary person. Genting Berhad will soon arrive…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-casino-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8280\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}