Las Vegas: Durango celebrates first anniversary amid expansion plans, sustained customer demand

Station Casino’s Durango Casino and Resort celebrated its first anniversary on Thursday. The $780 million project – parent company Red Rock Resorts’ first newly built resort-casino in 15 years – has quickly picked up customers in a growing region of the Las Vegas Valley. Management is now preparing to expand the property in response to the positive reception. 

Macquarie gaming analyst Chad Beynon said Durango’s "out-of-the-gate financial success" is estimated to be more than $100 million annually in one measurement of revenue, a return on investment of 15 percent, reports Las Vegas Review-Journal. This is a rare, quick pace compared to the typical ramp-up time for a new property of two to three years. 

“I think because of the wealth in the Las Vegas Valley, the population growth (in southwest Vegas) – Durango really just kind of hit that in the center of the bullseye. It’s an aspirational luxury, there’s lots of good spending power in that part of the city. And other offerings were a little tired for that consumer,” Beynon told the publication.

Durango's future plans

Station previously announced its plans to grow the casino by 25,000 square feet and 230 new slot machines, including a new high-limit slot and bar area. The first phase expansion will also include an additional parking garage with over 2,000 spots. Executives told Wall Street investors in the company’s third-quarter earnings call last month that the project is expected to cost $116 million.

Red Rock Resorts President Scott Kreeger said the management team then plans to move forward with either an entertainment-focused phase – which could include the traditional Station Casinos offerings like bowling alleys and theaters – or a resort expansion that adds more hotel rooms, meeting space, and a spa.

“At that point, Durango would be a fully integrated resort, pretty close to the size of Red Rock,” Kreeger said. “First phase is to get the garage done, and then we will move onto other phases as we evaluate the market and our options.”

Decisions on which phase to go with next will be based on the growth patterns in the neighborhood. Several multifamily residential and commercial projects are underway or have been recently completed near the resort, including the UnCommons mixed-use development and apartment buildings.