In fall 2005, Anthony Marnell III, son of Anthony Marnell II, the founder of the Rio Casino and Marnell Corrao Associates (the casino construction company), received preliminary approval to build M Resort, a $1.8 billion hotel-casino and commercial center on 79 acres at the corner of St. Rose Parkway and Las Vegas Boulevard approximately nine miles south of Mandalay Bay. The location is the only place where Henderson meets Las Vegas Blvd., and M Resort was planned to be Henderson’s largest resort-casino.
At that time, Phase I plans for M Resort called for a huge 135,000-square-foot casino, 1,000 rooms, and 600,000 square feet of mixed-use space. A Phase II was also discussed: a second 1,000-room tower and 2,000 condominiums. Construction was scheduled to begin in 2006, with a planned grand opening in 2008.
A year later, in fall 2006, MGM Mirage sold the Colorado Belle and Edgewater hotel-casinos in Laughlin, which it acquired when it took over Mandalay Resort Group, to a group led by Anthony Marnell III for $200 million, a deal that closed in 2007. Marnell also owns the Saddle West Casino in Pahrump; he graduated from UNLV’s School of Hospitality Administration and worked at the Rio and Harrah’s as a vice president for corporate and VIP marketing. He’s also the founder and chairman of TRIRIGA, a company involved in integrated workplace-management systems.
In spring 2007, thanks in part to Marnell’s connection to MGM Mirage through the sale of the two Laughlin casinos, MGM Mirage invested $160 million in the $700 million first phase of M Resort, which was under way last month, when updated details about the property were announced.
The first phase will include an 11-story tower with 390 rooms, a 90,000-square-foot casino, eight restaurants, a 40,000-square-foot conference area, a 20,000-square-foot spa and salon, and a 100,000-square-foot pool area. Additional phases are planned, with up to 3,000 rooms and a larger convention area eventually possible; if it all happens, it will be Henderson's largest casino.
Meanwhile, the scaled-down first phase of M, which is modeled after the Rio, will open in spring 2009, ahead of Encore and CityCenter.
