Posted on: March 9, 2022, 09:03h.
Last updated on: March 9, 2022, 11:42h.
Station Casinos is officially underway with building its next locals-focused casino resort in the Las Vegas Valley.
Heavy machinery arrived after Clark County issued the Durango casino a final grading permit earlier this month. Station Casinos is developing 71 acres of vacant land after acquiring it 22 years ago.
The current blueprint for Durango includes a 73,000-square-foot casino floor with more than 2,000 slot machines, 46 table games, and a sportsbook. The casino will be complemented by a 200-some room hotel, four full-service restaurants, over 20,000 square feet of meeting and event space, and a resort-style pool complex.
Durango, A Station Casinos Resort — as the company is calling the project — broke ground in January. But construction activity recently ramped up at the development site, located on Durango Drive just south of the 215 Beltway across from Ikea.
Luxury for Locals
Station Casinos is one of Nevada’s largest employers and casino operators, but the company isn’t invested on the Strip or downtown. Instead, the company, which has a controlling stake in Red Rock Resorts (RRR), focuses on the local market. Station is staying true to its main bread-and-butter with Durango.
A luxury-style property with amenities that will appeal to the Las Vegas local customer” is how the company summarized the Durango project during a recent RRR investors call.
Station has been mulling Durango for more than two decades. As the housing boom continues in Southern Nevada, the company believes now is finally the time to warrant the $750 million investment that’s accompanying Durango, A Station Casinos Resort.
Station’s Durango presentation detailed the attractive location of the development. The company explained that there are approximately 260,000 people over the age of 21 living within a five-mile radius. Station projects the community to grow nearly 12 percent through 2026.
Further enhancing the attractiveness of the project is the adjacent 215 Beltway, which handles over 166,000 vehicles per day near the Durango site. Company officials add that there’s not currently another non-restricted gaming venue within five miles.
Development Opportunities
With the mass exodus from California to Nevada having no end in near sight, Station Casinos says Durango could be just the start of the company’s expansion plans.
Station has long been a substantial landowner in Southern Nevada, the company counting nearly 380 acres of vacant property in its asset list.
Along with the 71 acres of Durango land, Station owns 96.4 acres in Viva, 58.2 acres in Town Center, 56.6 acres in Cactus, 47.3 acres in Skye Canyon, 45 acres in Inspirada, and five acres in Castaways.
Billionaire Lorenzo Fertitta, who controls Station Casinos and RRR with his brother Frank Fertitta III, said last month that the focus, for now, is Durango. But once that is completed, Station will regroup to determine “what the next pipeline of deals are going to be.”