Nearby businesses hope to benefit from Ainsworth Game Technology’s southwest Las Vegas location

Development continues in the southwest as the Las Vegas Valley’s gaming corridor grows.

Ainsworth Game Technology, an Australia-based slot machine design and manufacturing company, broke ground on its new 291,000-square-foot U.S. headquarters at 5800 Rafael Rivera Way about two years ago. Its signature red “A” can be can be seen from the 215 Beltway. It celebrated its grand opening Sept. 28, joining nearby companies such as Scientific Games and Boyd Gaming.

The headquarters houses 200 employees, and Mike Trask, marketing director, said the company will look at hiring game developers, mathematicians, animators, software engineers, hardware engineers and other technical positions as game development begins.

Across the street, businesses are expecting to benefit from the traffic Ainsworth will bring.

Sierra Gold Tavern has been a southwest staple since 2005. Howard Stutz, vice president of corporate communications for Golden Entertainment Inc. — the company that owns Sierra Gold — said the tavern at 6515 S. Jones Blvd. is among the company’s most successful locations with a strong lunchtime and happy hour crowd.

“Having Ainsworth Gaming’s new American headquarters nearby adds to an already healthy customer base,” Stutz said.

Business owner Luiz Oliveira opened his second Sambalatte Torrefazione coffee shop location a couple doors down from Sierra Gold two years ago in anticipation of the neighborhood’s development.

Oliveira said the opening of Ainsworth hasn’t increased Sambalatte’s customer base by much, yet.

“I think the only problem for the area is the weekends and night time,” Oliviera said. “It’s not a destination. During business hours, business is strong. It’s like an office park. People go to work, and that’s when it becomes soft for everyone.”

Oliveira hopes that the opening of UFC’s global headquarters — which began construction in January off the Beltway near Jones — up the road from his coffee shop will bring the area more momentum.

UFC said in a news release that its headquarters is expected to open by March. The space will house nearly 400 employees and its new athlete health and performance center.

“We love the location, just the area needs to be developed for everybody to do great,” Oliviera said.

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To reach Southwest View intern reporter Rocio Hernandez, email rhernandez@viewnews.com or call 702-387-5233. Find her on Twitter: @rociohzz.