Wynn expanding to Middle East, still no word on Strip land

The project marks a big bet by Wynn on a tourism outpost halfway around the world — while back home, the casino operator still hasn’t said what it will do with a big chunk of land across the street.

Wynn has teamed with developer Marjan and hotel owner RAK Hospitality Holding to build a “multibillion-dollar” resort on Al Marjan Island, located in Ras Al Khaimah, one of the seven emirates that comprise the UAE, according to a news release Tuesday.

The project — slated to include meeting and convention space, an “exclusive spa,” entertainment and a “gaming area” — is scheduled to be finished in 2026, the release said.

Wynn isn’t the first Las Vegas casino company to venture to the Middle East, nor is it the only one that owns a big tract of land in Southern Nevada where it could build a new hotel.

But just over four years after Wynn announced it was acquiring 38 acres next to Fashion Show mall for $336 million, it still hasn’t confirmed what it will do with that property, the long-vacant former home of the New Frontier.

‘Continue to evolve our ideas’

Wynn Resorts spokesman Michael Weaver said in a statement for this column that the company will be the operating partner for the UAE resort, receive a management fee and hold a “minority financial interest in the project.”

He noted that Al Marjan Island is a 45-minute drive from one of the busiest airports in the world, Dubai International Airport, and offers a “pristine white sand beach.”

He also said 17 new hotels will open by 2024 in Ras Al Khaimah, “increasing its appeal as a strong regional tourism destination.”

As for the land on Las Vegas Boulevard, he said: “We continue to evolve our ideas for the 38 acres located across from Wynn Las Vegas and look forward to developing it at the appropriate time.”

In some ways, this isn’t much of a surprise, given the property’s history and Las Vegas’ stomach-churning experience through the pandemic.

Changing fortunes, changing hands

Israeli investors bought the New Frontier in 2007 for more than $1.2 billion and imploded it with plans to develop a luxury resort. But Las Vegas’ frenzied real estate boom soon flamed out, the economy crashed and the project was never built.

Australian billionaire James Packer acquired the site through foreclosure in 2014 and set out to build the 1,100-room Alon Las Vegas. But Packer reportedly had trouble raising project funds, and his company Crown Resorts put the land up for sale.

Wynn Resorts announced a deal in December 2017 to acquire the site, and founder Steve Wynn told analysts in January 2018 that he wanted to move quickly on a project there.

Days later, The Wall Street Journal reported that Wynn had a decadeslong pattern of sexual misconduct. Wynn, who called the allegations “preposterous,” soon resigned as chairman and CEO of his company, citing “an avalanche of negative publicity.”

‘There will always be demand’

Meanwhile, visitation to Las Vegas has increased dramatically from 2020 when the pandemic hit and tourism plunged, but it hasn’t returned to pre-pandemic levels.

More than 32 million people visited America’s casino capital last year, up from 19 million in 2020 but down from 42.5 million in 2019, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported.

Asked if Wynn believes there is, or will be, enough demand for more megaresorts along the Strip, Weaver pointed to the “incredible surge in demand for Las Vegas among domestic leisure and gaming customers in 2021,” and added the company “firmly” believes Las Vegas will remain a “prime global destination for years to come.”

“And with that backdrop, there will always be demand for the quality experiences that Wynn delivers,” he added.

Will those experiences include a new casino across the street from its glitzy Wynn Las Vegas and Encore towers? Will that sprawling site remain an undeveloped lot for years to come?

Your guess is as good as mine.

Contact Eli Segall at esegall@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342. Follow @eli_segall on Twitter.