The New Resort Will Create 13,000 Permanent Jobs and 30,000 in the Construction Phase
Resorts World Las Vegas broke ground on a 3000-room hotel and casino this week. The casino development, which will be the most expensive in the history of Las Vegas, is expected to open in the middle of 2018.
Saying that the project is breaking ground for the first time is a bit of a misnomer. Resorts World Las Vegas is on the site of the old Echelon Project, which was abandoned by the Boyd Gaming Group during the Global Recession. The property sits on the north end of the Las Vegas Strip. When completed, it should be a destination landmark.
Genting Group Spending $4 Billion
The development is owned by Genting Group, a Malaysian multinational conglomerate with casinos in Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Genting bid for a casino license in Orange County in New York state, but the siting panel chose local developers, instead. Genting Group also bought the Miami Herald building a couple of years ago, in anticipation of securing one of the two proposed casino licenses in South Florida.
The groundbreaking ceremony in Las Vegas was attended by a number of Nevada officials, including Governor Brian Sandoval and the Nevada Gaming Control Board. The project has received a great deal of buzz in the gaming press, because it is expected to be the most impressive integrated casino-resort in the history of the Vegas Strip.
Integrated Casino with Everything
The Chinese-themed casino is expected to include four accommodation towers, including three hotels and a 175,000 square foot casino. The complex is expected to include a 4000-seat theater, an indoor water park, a vast aquarium, a giant panda exhibit, and a replica of the Great Wall of China.
The grounds of Resorts World Las Vegas is also going to include brand name nightclubs and retail outlets, along with dozens of restaurants–many of which will feature regional Chinese cuisines. In a press release this week, Genting promised that the casino will have 100,000-square feet of “innovative gaming space”. The casino area is expected to have 3,500 slot machines and gaming tables.
Creating 30,000 Jobs
The construction phase of the project is going to employ 30,000 workers, in direct and indirect jobs created. When construction is completed, the casino resort is expected to create 13,000 permanent jobs.
No one knows how the global downturn in gaming revenues is going to affect such an ambitious project, but Genting Group does not seem to be concerned about the current market.
Not Discouraged by Declining Revenues
This week, Morgan Stanley Asia Ltd. released a report on the world gambling scene. The Morgan Stanley report said, “The global VIP market has contracted by 8 percent in 2014, largely due to the corruption crackdown in China and junket liquidity crunch that drove 12 percent decline in the VIP business in Macau in 2014.”
That report pointed out that Genting Group showed a decline in its Singaporean and Malaysian numbers, and suggested that decline was directly linked to the drop in Chinese VIP numbers.
Asian Downturn Caused by China
In 2014, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign began to focus on the gambling hub of Macau. The junket operators developed a system to get around Chinese restrictions on the amount of cash taken to Macau by its citizens, but that system required debt collection by Chinese crime syndicates known as triads. In time, the junkets were controlled by the triads themselves, and became a way for Chinese high rollers to launder money. The crackdown focused heavily on the junket operations, so the VIP gaming in Macau declined critically. From February 2014 to February 2015, revenues in Macau dropped 49%.
One might think such a development would help regional casinos in Singapore, the Philippines, and Australia. That has not been the case, because the Beijing government is trying to restrict high dollar gamblers from leaving the country. Many of China’s wealthiest residents have tried to flee the country to avoid being caught up in the investigations, so the government is keeping a tight control on those who might try to flee their justice.
Genting Group relies on more than gaming revenues. The multi-billion dollar company also owns rubber plantations, energy grids, and oil platforms in Malaysia. Unlike most gaming companies, Genting should be able to forge ahead with an ambitious project without too much concern about the declining Asian gaming market.
KT Lim’s Statement
KT Lim, CEO of Genting Group, said in a press release this week, “Genting Group looks forward to being a part of the city’s [Las Vegas’s] continued growth by creating a huge national and international draw with this Chinese themed world-class resort.”
Brian Sandoval’s Statement
Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval was quoted in the same press release. Sandoval wrote, “Resorts World Las Vegas will truly help grow the Las Vegas market by attracting greater numbers of visitors, conventions and shows to our state.”
One has to be impressed with a company when it issues joint press releases with the governor of a U.S. state. Nevada is somewhat unique in its relationship to the gambling industry, but every expert agrees that Resorts World Las Vegas is going to be impressive by any standards. Previously, KT Lim has suggested that the casino complex is going to be a landmark which will bring non-gaming tourists to the Las Vegas Strip.
