Despite only four hundred and thirty pounds of explosives being used in the demolition, the Stardust became the tallest building to be imploded on the Las Vegas Strip. Almost immediately after demolition wrapped up, construction teams began prepping the land for construction. Many of the newly purchased land parcels contained structures which needed to be removed prior to the start of construction. After the prep work was completed, construction officially begun on Echelon Place during the summer of 2007.
Developers presumed the project would be completely finished by 2010. Towards the end of 2007, the United States began to undergo an economic recession that wreaked havoc on the tourism economy. While established Casino’s experienced severe problems relating to the Recession, planned projects seemingly felt the brunt of the damage Casinoslots. On August 1st, 2008, Boyd Gaming announced that construction on Echelon would be halted for three to four quarters due to the poor economic conditions. Project officials announced they intend on resuming construction upon the recovery of the credit market, and Las Vegas Economy. This was bad news for many Las Vegas residents, who were relying on the opening of places like Echelon Place to bring jobs to the Valley. During the subsequent year, the recession continued to wreak havoc on the valley . Boyd Gaming took a massive hit in 2009, when the company experienced a massive drop in their share prices, and revenue. The recession’s effect on Boyd’s revenue resulted in the company losing millions of dollars in profit. After tough deliberations, Boyd Officials concluded the best course of action was to suspend construction on Echelon Place until the economic conditions in Las Vegas improved. In a statement released by Boyd, the company stated that while they believe in the long term viability of Las Vegas, the current economic conditions in Las Vegas would not support a project like Echelon Place. The company concluded by stating that construction would not resume any time soon, and that locals should expect construction to be suspended for three to five years. Three years after suspending construction, Boyd Gaming announced they planned on finish construction at Echelon Place. Boyd stated this time around, they were determined to claim their spot as one of the top luxury destinations on the Las Vegas Strip. Following the announcement, Clark County granted Boyd an extension till 2018 to finish the project. Plans to resume construction fell through less than a year later in 2013, when Boyd Gaming sold the 87 acre site to the Malaysian gaming company Genting Group, for three hundred and fifty million dollars. Genting Group is a well respect, gaming powerhouse based from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The company owns several casino’s located throughout the world, most noteworthy being the Aqueduct Racetrack Casino in New York City, which contains the world’s largest slot machine floor. Genting purchased the site with plans to develop a chinese themed resort on the eighty seven acres. After the acquisition of Echelon Place, executives from Genting Group received an invitation to attend a local press conference. At the conference, company officials revealed their plan to construct a twenty one million square foot chinese themed resort named “Resorts World Las Vegas”. Upon completion, the project would contain four hotel towers with a combined room count of 6,500 rooms. Aside from the typical shopping and dining areas, developers revealed part of their plan included building a replica Great Wall of China, a Panda Exhibit, and one million square feet convention center. Company Officials stated, construction on Resorts World would occur in four “phases” over the span of twenty four to thirty six months. Officials also disclosed that ”Phase One” of construction would span eight million square feet, and include 3,500 hotel rooms. To reduce construction costs, Genting intended on incorporating the structure of Echelon Place into Resorts Worlds design. “Phase One” planned to accommodate numerous features, such as a seven and a half acre indoor waterpark, a four thousand seat theater, and a bowling alley. Construction on the first phase was expected to cost around four billion dollars, and break ground in 2014. Genting officials estimated that Resorts World would open by 2016, and alleged the property would supply nearly 12,000 jobs to the Valley. Residents of Las Vegas found the announcement of Resorts World to be a pleasant surprise. Although the Great Recession began four years earlier in 2008, Las Vegas was still experiencing its devastating effects. From 2002 until the economic crisis, unemployment in the Valley had remained on a steady decline. Before the Recession, unemployment in Las Vegas sat around four percent. Two years after the initial onset of the Recession, unemployment in the Valley skyrocketed upwards of ten percent. Throughout this period of economic crisis, the Hospitality Industry would suffer greatly from the drastic decline in Tourist Spending. As a result, many Las Vegas Residents lost their jobs, and found themselves unable to find new employment. With the announcement of Resorts World Las Vegas, many felt that things might finally turn around for Las Vegas. Resorts World received support from several Nevada Government Officials, including Governor Ryan Sandoval, and Senator Harry Reid. Both Sandoval, and Reid praised Genting Group for aiding in the recovery of the Las Vegas Economy by providing employment to thousands of people. Construction got off to a rocky start, as ground breaking was delayed until May 5th, 2015, one year after the initially planned start date. The project now expected to be completed by mid-2018, two years after Resorts World was initially scheduled to open. Shortly after construction broke ground, construction on the project slowed down considerably. As the months wore on, work on the project appeared to on a steady decline. Genting Group also became increasingly quiet about the project, and begun only posting construction updates on Facebook. By February of 2016, numerous locals questioned the resorts status, as barely any work had been completed. With the current pace of construction, many doubted the project would open by 2018. In May of 2016, Genting Group announced their plan to ramp up construction later that year. Assuming construction stays on schedule, the company expected the project to be complete by early 2019. Genting attributed the delays to Malaysia’s currency depreciation, which decreased the company’s global purchasing power, along with waiting on approval from the Nevada Gaming Commission for a gaming license. The project sat in limbo for nearly two years, as Genting Group geared up for resuming construction. In 2018, over a decade since Boyd demolished the Stardust to make way for a new development, construction was finally in full swing. In May of 2018, Genting posted an updated timeline for construction on Resorts World, which placed the resorts opening at the end of 2020. Since Gentings released the updated timeline, construction has stayed on on pace with the aggressive timeline. This is attributed to on-site workers being increased six fold since the start of 2018. Towards the end of July, Genting Group Representatives informed News Three Las Vegas that the two hotel towers now stand twenty two and twenty five stories tall, more than double their initial height at the start of 2018. The representatives also informed News Three that both towers will stand sixty stories tall by the end of the year, and be topped out in the fall of 2019. In order to remain on pace with the aggressive building schedule, company officials stated the number of workers will increase daily, as construction expands out to different areas. This is good news for the Vegas Construction Industry, since Resorts World will continually provide more job opportunities as construction advances. As 2018 comes to an end, construction at Resorts World continues to keep up with the aggressive building schedule. While some skeptics believe construction will not be completed until 2021 or later, many locals remain hopeful that the project will continue to stay on track, and open on schedule. The Northern End of the Strip has been plagued with abandoned developments, and declining foot traffic since the initial onslaught of the recession. The Fontainebleau Las Vegas, now known as the Drew, ceased construction in 2008, around the same time Boyd Gaming announced construction on Echelon Place was suspended. Like Resorts World, The Drew is expected to open at the end of 2020. With both projects being highly anticipated, many expect they will revitalize the Northern End of the Strip upon opening. At this point, only time will tell what becomes of the former site of the Stardust. I personally believe that when Resorts World opens, it will be a successful addition to the Las Vegas Strip. Genting Group appears to be studying the market, as well as carefully calculating what to build in order to compete with the already established casinos on the Strip. While the Strip is historically one of the most competitive markets out there, Genting Officials should have no issue competing assuming they play their cards right. With proper marketing, and generous gaming promotions, Resorts World is poised to take over and dominate the Northern End of the Strip. If you enjoyed the video, hit that like button down below! This video was actually a suggestion I received from one of you on one of my latest videos! If you have any suggestions for future videos, let me know in the comments down below! Also, be sure to hit that subscribe and bell icon so you can stay up to date on my latest content!
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