Posted on: January 11, 2024, 06:02h.
Last updated on: January 11, 2024, 06:02h.
Wynn Resorts seeks to extend its building permit for the site where the New Frontier Hotel and Casino once stood to construct a third tower. After eight years of planning for a different project, the Clark County Building Department might not approve this latest request.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal revealed that Clark County staffers are likely to recommend denying the extension due to no new building permits or studies were submitted, and construction regulations have changed since initial approval.
The decision is expected at the county zoning commission meeting in April.
Crowning Non-Achievement
The construction approval was given in 2015 for a project called Alon Las Vegas, before the plans were dropped in 2016. Wynn Resorts then bought the land in 2018 and intended to construct a 1,100-room casino resort called Wynn West. The pandemic halted all projects, and Wynn Resorts argues for an extension due to the delays. The company already did a building height study in 2022, finding that a 640-foot tower can safely be built on the site, according to Clark County documents.
Westward Hold
Before the pandemic, during his Q4 2017 conference call, then-company chair Steve Wynn expressed expectation for a brief design and development period for Wynn West. Construction delays during the pandemic shutdown could account for the absence of a development timeline before 2020.
Published allegations by several women against Steve Wynn for sexual harassment and assault caused significant impact on the company. Wynn Resorts’ future seemed bleak with its namesake’s abrupt resignation from all corporate positions following the allegations.
More Vacated Plans
The Alon Las Vegas project was not the first one for the lot. The property was initially sold to El-Ad Properties in 2007 with plans to build a Plaza-branded casino that didn’t materialize due to the Great Recession. Wynn Resorts has since leased the land for certain events, the most recent being the Taco Bell Innovation Summit in February.