Expansion plan for Durango Casino & Resort might aim for fun, or build for business

LAS VEGAS ( KLAS ) — Durango Casino & Resort is holding all the cards as it prepares to make decisions about expanding less than a year after opening in the southwest Las Vegas valley.

An announcement on Tuesday started with the casino and parking, but there’s much more in the offing.

“Our current plans for the next phase at Durango will add over 25,000 square feet of additional casino space, including a new high-limit slot and bar area,” Stephen L. Cootey, executive vice president, CFO and treasurer for Red Rock Resorts, said.

That will bring the 83,000-square-foot casino up to 108,000 square feet — still smaller than the 118,308 square feet at the company’s Red Rock Resort.

The company had already revealed plans for a seven-story garage with nearly 2,000 additional parking spaces. That need became clear in the months following Durango’s wildly successful debut in December.

But the parking garage is pivotal in another way, too. Access from the parking garage will set the stage for additional expansion discussed on Tuesday as Red Rock officials talked about the resort’s future during a second-quarter earnings call.

“The first step is really getting the garage down and set because that is going to help us with the laydown area and be able to go to either the north or the south,” Cootey said.

If it’s north, the next expansion will be all about entertainment. If it’s south, it’s all about business.

Scott Kreeger, president of Red Rock Resorts, talked about some of the options.

“Things like movie theaters, things like a potentially country-western dance hall, these types of things tend to drive weekend visitation,” Kreeger said. “On the other side of the property, it’s more resort-driven and drives mid-week visitation for the property. Things like a resort hotel expansion, spa, meeting space.”

The decision on which way to go will be made down the line, but it won’t take long.

“While we are still in the planning and budgeting stage of the expansion, we currently expect construction to start later this year,” Cootey said.

And if the choice isn’t what you were hoping for, it will probably become the next phase anyway.

The casino expansion will add 230 slot machines — including 120 in a high-limit area. The attraction for VIP/high-limit gambling has been growing at Station Casinos’ properties in the valley — Durango, Red Rock Casino Resort & Spa, Green Valley Ranch, Santa Fe Station, Sunset Station and Boulder Station.

And Durango’s opening has brought a jump in customers, company officials said. Sign-ups for the company’s “Boarding Pass” loyalty program has surged since Durango’s opening. “We grow the market,” Kreeger said.

At the same time, the company admits Durango has cut into Red Rock’s business, and it could take two to three years for Red Rock to build that back.

In the meantime, the company is still working toward developing a new resort at Inspirada in the south valley. Preparations before any construction could start could take less than a year, Kreeger said.

“Durango continues to validate our long-term growth strategy and demonstrate the power of our own development pipeline and real estate bank, which consists of over 445 if developable land positioned in highly favorable areas across the Las Vegas valley,” Cootey said.

Profits were up by 15.6% in the second quarter compared to 2023 levels on $483.2 million in revenue for Las Vegas operations.

It was a busy quarter for the company with the completion of a new sports book and partial casino remodel at Sunset Station and the opening of Lindo Michoacan at Palace Station. An additional restaurant at Palace Station is in the works, and a Yard House restaurant at Santa Fe Station is coming soon.

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