The last time Station Casinos opened a new property in Las Vegas was 2008, or 14 years ago. And lately, we’ve been hearing about how they are bulldozing three existing properties.
That doesn’t mean the locals market for Station properties is going away. In fact, the company wants to double the size of its offerings over the next eight years.
Its first new casino-resort will be at Durango Drive and the 215 Beltway, where construction has already begun. But why bulldoze one casino just to replace it with another — or several more?
David McKee shared some insight into this as the North American gaming editor for Casino Life magazine with State of Nevada host Joe Schoenmann. McKee is also a gaming columnist for the Las Vegas Advisor.
"The three casinos that they're bulldozing, four if you count Wild Wild West, is that they were, by Stations own admission, the worst performing casinos in their portfolio," he said. "And the implication is that the demographics of those properties aren't a good enough to justify reopening them."
He said it was surprising that they're planning so many new properties.
"This is a company that took 39 years to get to its present size, and they're talking about doubling that in the space of seven."
Currently, the company is building Durango in the southwest valley.
"The next two priority projects are Skye Canyon up in Summerlin, and Inspirada down in Henderson. Again, very favorable demographics. Skye Canyon has been ranked very highly as far as master-planned communities go," McKee said. "And these could be very big ticket properties for Stations, which is risky. But they're looking at the influx of tax refugees from California and the appreciation in home prices and they like what they see in terms of the current economic picture in Southern Nevada."
Hear more in the interview above.
David McKee, gaming reporter, Casino Life
