Las Vegas poised for next building boom

     Las Vegas is the proving grounds for the statement: "If you build it, they will come."
      The population traditionally doubles every 10 years and there's no reason the future will be any different.
      Of course, what fuels this growth is the casino industry.
      In the late 1980s, a building boom was started when Steve Wynn built The Mirage, the first major project on the Strip since the original MGM (now Bally's) opened in the early '70s. It was followed by Treasure Island, Excalibur, Luxor, MGM Grand, New York-New York and Monte Carlo, not to mention all the smaller casinos off-Strip and in Primm.
      In the late '90s, a second building boom was started when Wynn built Bellagio. It was followed by Venetian, Paris, Mandalay Bay/Four Seasons and the Aladdin.
      Here it is, 2000, and Wynn has bought the Desert Inn. He's planning three or four new casinos on that property. Is there a trend evolving?
      The north end of The Strip will benefit from the vision Wynn brought to the central and south end. One of the sore spots on the north end, the former El Rancho casino, has been bought by Turnberry Associates. That horror will be leveled, and a phoenix will arise from the ashes.
      The Sahara has gone through expansion and major remodeling. The new owner of the Frontier has announced plans for a San Francisco-themed property. Fashion Show is doubling its size and has signed new tenants such as Lord & Taylor and Nordstrom.
      John Knott, president of the Las Vegas office of CB Richard Ellis, tells me the property his company has listed across Las Vegas Boulevard from the Sahara has generated "a high activity level from the types of people we're interested in contacting." Knott said he wouldn't be surprised if an announcement was made in the next 30 days.
      "There are, however, a lot of people who would like Mr. Bennett to make a `donation' to their endeavors, and that's not going to happen."
      It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas to the casino owners on The Strip between Sands Boulevard/Spring Mountain Road, up to and perhaps including The Stratosphere.
      With this next phase of hotel proliferation, will come people: tourists, residents, contractors, business owners.
      More people will come to visit the new hotels. More people will move to find jobs. More contractors will come to take advantage of the construction, and more entrepreneurs will come to expand their businesses.
      All of these people will need homes. This means that the slow growth currently being experienced by the housing industry will turn into another boom, with people willing to travel farther from the business core in order to be able to afford the American Dream.
      Let's hope local planners will realize what they're facing. The results of the 2000 Census should be interesting; I believe the numbers will come in at more than 1.5 million, perhaps close to 2 million. Anybody driving the freeways on a regular basis knows the population is growing more quickly than highway planners projected.
      We're going to need more of everything -- schools, water, electricity, natural gas, phone service, roads, more, more.
      Let's thank our lucky stars that Wynn chose Las Vegas and not Reno.
      Carmel Hopkins, Real Estate Product Manager for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Las Vegas Sun, can be reached at 380-4574. Her e-mail address is Carmel_Hopkins@lasvegasnewspapers.com. Snail mail is P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125.
     

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