2007-06-20 13:20:39 -
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Boyd Gaming Corp. revealed more details about its $4.8 billion (¤3.58 billion) casino complex Echelon, pitching it as a series of upscale hotels that will cater to customers tired of the oversized megaresort in Las Vegas.
The company said its research showed customers «often grouse about the waiting and the walking
that has become synonymous with these large facilities,» said Bob Boughner, Boyd's president of Echelon.
«We've crafted Echelon in a manner that we believe will capture their excitement yet tap into the sense of desire for hotel living spaces that are more intimate,» he said.
Each of five hotels on the northern end of the Las Vegas Strip will have separate gateway areas sized to fit hotels from the large, curving, 2,500-room Hotel Echelon to the thin, 350-room Shangri-La.
The other towers include the 640-room Suites at Echelon, and the two hotels developed by a joint venture with Morgans Hotel Group Co., the 860-room Mondrian and 550-room Delano. Each tower has its own pool area and most have their own spas.
The massive development, which formally began construction Tuesday and is to open in late 2010, sits on 87 acres (35 hectares) once occupied by the Stardust casino-hotel. Boyd demolished the Stardust, which opened in 1958, in a hail of fireworks in March.
Bill Boyd, the chairman and chief executive, said the company hoped to capture part of the growing market for convention visitors, who have increased at twice the rate of leisure visitors since 1990. He also said the high-end market was being underserved in Las Vegas.
«Las Vegas, as far as upscale properties are concerned, is way behind New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, where probably 30 percent of the total room base is upscale,» he said. «In Las Vegas it's only 16 percent. We think that there's a great amount of growth potential in the market.
Some 40,000 hotel rooms are expected to be added in Las Vegas in the next five years, including at Las Vegas Sands Corp.'s $2.6 billion (¤1.94 billion) Palazzo set to open late this year, at Wynn Resorts Ltd.'s $2.1 billion (¤1.57 billion) Encore to open in 2009, and at MGM Mirage Inc.'s $7.4 billion (¤5.52 billion) CityCenter, also to open in 2009.
Other upscale casino properties set to debut around the same time are the $2.8 billion (¤2.09 billion) Fontainebleau, in 2009, and the Plaza, an up-to-$8 billion (¤5.97 billion) complex targeted to open in 2011.
About 22 acres (nine hectares) of the Echelon site will be left mostly undeveloped, serving as surface parking and landscaping while the company assesses how to best use the land, Boughner said. The company added 24 acres (9.7 hectares) to its Echelon site in a land swap with Harrah's Entertainment Inc. for the 4.4-acre (1.8-hectare) Barbary Coast casino-hotel earlier this year.
The property will also have 750,000 square feet (69,677 square meters) of convention and meeting space, a 300,000-square-foot (27,870-square-meter) retail promenade, two live entertainment venues of 4,000 seats and 1,500 seats, 30 dining and nightlife venues, and a 140,000-square-foot (13,000-square-meter) casino.
Boyd said Monday the cost of the complex increased to $4.8 billion (¤3.58 billion), up from a previously expected $4.4 billion (¤3.28 billion), as plans for its retail spaces and hotels were better defined. The project was pegged at $4 billion (¤2.98 billion) in January 2006 when it was first announced.
Boyd shares fell 17 cents to $52.14 (¤38.9) Tuesday.
On the Net
Boyd Gaming Corp.:
www.boydgaming.com 
