With Las Vegas pushing to get visitor numbers up to the 43 million mark annually, expansion plans throughout the city are in motion. Analysts may disagree about the viability of gaming stocks in the longer term, after rapid increases over the last year, but construction projects continue unabated in Las Vegas. Low interest rates and an influx of foreign visitors taking advantage of the low dollar have cast a rosy glow over the city.

A major casino is planned for the former El Rancho site on the north end of the Strip. Fontainebleau Resorts is seeking to develop a 4,000 room casino resort and expects construction to begin in March 2006 and to be completed in 2008. The original idea was for a London theme but as themes have now been decreed old-fashioned the new look will be an overall ‘cool factor’ with crisp aesthetics.

The new fashion for condominium complexes and convention space will also be factored into the development. The resort is expected to attract business clients during the week and tourists at the weekend. It is hoped that Fontainebleau will become a lifestyle resort brand and that the Miami Fontainebleau Hotel, acquired this week, will be developed into a contemporary high-end resort, the first of several planned worldwide.

Boyd Gaming is to more than double the hotel rooms at its South Coast Hotel & Casino, due to open early next year. A second hotel tower is to be built to provide an additional 700 rooms, which will bring the cost of the development to $600 million. Eventually there should be three hotel towers but the timing of the second has been brought forward. Room expansion at Boyd’s The Orleans has already been successful and demand for rooms in Las Vegas remains strong.

As a city renowned for reinventing itself, Las Vegas is encompassing retail outlets, nightclubs and other non-gaming venues to present a more family oriented face. New residents are flocking in and corporations are investing heavily in new developments such as the $2.7 billion Wynn Las Vegas. Record gaming revenues and profitable diversification are creating a roaring economy in Las Vegas at present. Will the bubble burst anytime soon? Many are betting big that it won’t. (E-05.13.05)

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