Encore Resort On Schedule
Las Vegas Gaming Wire - Despite project cancellations and concerns about overbuilding on the Strip, Wynn Resorts Ltd. is proceeding quickly with development of the 2,000-room Encore, the second phase of Wynn Las Vegas.
Developer Steve Wynn said Thursday the project is on pace to break ground in June, and Perini Building Co. Chairman Dick Rizzo calls Encore one of the surest bets on the Strip for completion by 2010.
Rizzo said Wynn’s personal determination, combined with the early planning for the project ahead of more recent condominium announcements, make Encore the most likely pending Strip project to open by 2010.
“Steve Wynn’s made a sincere (personal) commitment to this project, and he’s known for doing what he says,” Rizzo said.
Furthermore, Deutsche Bank analyst Andrew Zarnett said, Wynn has found his operations “capacity constrained” since he opened Wynn Las Vegas in April.
“As he’s gone through the process, he’s realized he could use additional suites and this gives him the capacity,” he said. “Encore will also give him additional amenities to capture additional and existing customers by getting them to spend more time on-property.”
When Encore opens, Wynn’s Strip resort will have 4,716 rooms and suites as well as some of the highest quality meeting rooms, restaurants and retail shops in Las Vegas.
At $2.7 billion, the 2,700-room Wynn Las Vegas cost $1 million a room — the most expensive resort ever built on a per room basis.
With overhead including a major casino, meeting rooms, golf course and other amenities already in place, the $1.4 billion Encore will cost about $700,000 per room, cutting the average room cost at the whole resort to about $825,000.