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Steve Wynn’s Las Vegas footprint and love for President Donald Trump‘s recent tax cuts keeps on growing. In an earnings call this week, the Wynn Resorts Chairman and CEO revealed the company’s plans to build a brand-new hotel property on recently acquired land on the north end of the Las Vegas Strip.
Wynn West, will be a 2,000 to 3,000-room hotel built on the on the 38-acre Alon site, the former site of the New Frontier. Wynn bought the property for $336 million in December. Wynn’s property now stretches from Paradise Road to Sammy Davis Jr. Drive.
The new hotel will connect to the Beach Club outside Encore and Wynn Las Vegas through an air-conditioned bridge running over the Strip. Wynn claims the necessary infrastructure outside the Beach Club has already been built, partly because he’s had his eye on the adjacent empty plot of land for the past decade.
Wynn Goes West
Wynn told listeners on the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call the project could be completed in as little as three years:
“What we are going to do across the street is going to go rather quickly because I have been giving it thought for a long time. I don’t think the design and development period is going to be very long.”
Wynn also said he is continuing to invest in Las Vegas expecting the city to undergo an “economic renaissance” over the next 20 years, stimulated by tax breaks:
“Do you believe that Las Vegas will for the next decade or two continue to be a major destination city in the United States of America and the world? If you believe that, then you can be fearless about accommodating these people at the best level and giving the highest level of value. Anyone that doesn’t understand that is missing the boat.”
Construction is already underway on the company’s Wynn Paradise Park project. It includes a 1,500-room 47-story hotel going up between the the existing Wynn and Encore towers. The property will also include a 1,600 foot long and 650 to 700 foot wide lagoon surrounded by a boardwalk and a beach.
A big piece of the Southern Nevada pie
Wynn Las Vegas and Encore already include 4,800 rooms. Once these two projects are completed, Wynn said the company would own 8,000 of some 160,000 hotel rooms in Southern Nevada. He expects to be able to charge $400 to $500 per night by the time the new properties open and said he is so bullish on Las Vegas he can hardly wait:
“I am going to get those damn buildings up as fast as I can because I want to capture more of the absolutely inevitable visitor and tourist traffic that Las Vegas will experience in the next 15 to 20 years.”
Of course, Wynn is the man behind the construction of a number of iconic Las Vegas casino properties, including Golden Nugget, The Mirage, Treasure Island, and the Bellagio.
Beyond Las Vegas
However, Wynn appeared bullish about more than just Las Vegas in this latest earnings call. Having a look at the company’s interests across the US, Wynn said the new $2.4 billion Wynn Boston Harbor in Everett, Massachusetts just outside of Boston would open in May or June 2019.
Plus, he said President Donald Trump’s tax cutting and deregulation efforts have helped the company’s profits surge:
“With the Trump administration, with the Republicans in Congress, we are seeing this fabulous renaissance. Any attempt to vilify or criticize this tax bill is a fruitless and pointless experiences. That impact of that tax bill is a tsunami of business activity and growth in America.”
Wynn claims the company earned an additional $340 million as a result of recent tax cuts.
In fact, Wynn Resorts’ fourth quarter 2017 net profits reached $492 million compared with $113 million in 2016. Money Wynn said the company plans to share with employees by raising wages or handing out bonuses.
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