Vegas Resort Is Latest Opening for Wynn
By Heidi Genoist -- Tradeshow Week, 4/25/2005
With a giant monograph visible from McCarran Intl. Airport to Cashman Center, Wynn Las Vegas might be the only casino resort that developer Steve Wynn actually signs his name to — but it won't be his last venture in Las Vegas.
It's also not the end of his venture into the world of group meetings.
Last November, before the casino was even completed, Wynn Resorts revealed its intention to expand the Strip's newest hotel, set to open April 28, in the form of a tower called Encore at Wynn Las Vegas. One month later, the company completed debt refinancing and secured $1 billion in new credit, part of which will be used to get Encore off the ground.
Meanwhile, Wynn Macau in China is reportedly on track for its 2006 opening.
Wynn Resorts has also responded to the Singapore government's request for proposals to build an integrated resort on that island republic.
Apart from luxuries like a golf course and manmade lake, the $2.7 billion, 2,700-room Wynn Las Vegas — the developer's first project since he sold Mirage Resorts to MGM in 2000 — will offer 200,000 square feet of convention and meeting space. That includes one 50,000 sq. ft. ballroom, one 25,000 sq. ft. ballroom and nine divisible meeting rooms of various sizes.
The Encore is slated to go up on 20 acres next to the original Wynn on Desert Inn Road, just off Las Vegas Boulevard. Besides 1,500 suites, it will add more convention space to the resort, expected to open in 2007.
Jeff Gloeb, executive director of hotel sales and marketing for Wynn Las Vegas, said Encore is still in the planning stage, so specifics on the size and configuration of the convention space are not available yet.
However, he added, organizers who snooze could lose first dibs on the upscale space. Gloeb said that the Wynn room block for the Intl. Council of Shopping Centers Spring Convention, Leasing Mall & Trade Expo next month was sold out six months ago. "And I sold out Intl. CES for January 2006 four months ago," he said.
Besides actively working with the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority and other properties to accommodate citywide conventions, Gloeb's team has been busy booking its own meetings. He said they've had success with groups of all kinds — from high-end associations, to corporate programs, to insurance and financial institutions.
"There are a lot of groups out there that only need 50,000 sq. ft. of meeting space," he said. "We're building a resort that caters to those groups."
