M Resort occupies 79 acres at the corner of St. Rose Parkway and Las Vegas Boulevard, approximately nine miles south of Mandalay Bay. It was planned and built to serve the eventual 9,000 homes in upscale Southern Highlands 2,300-acre master-planned community, along with the other new communities in southwestern Henderson; fully 80% of M’s market was expected to come from nearby neighborhoods in Henderson.
When it was first approved in fall 2005, M Resort was supposed to have 1,000 rooms, with a huge 135,000-square-foot casino and 600,000 square feet of mixed-use space. A Phase II was also planned, with another 1,000 rooms and 2,000 condominiums. It opened with 390 rooms, a 92,000- square-foot casino, nine restaurants, 60,000 square feet of meeting and conference space, a state-of-the-art spa and fitness center, and a 100,000-square-foot events piazza.
Also in 2005, a second large-scale mixed-use development was announced for across Las Vegas Boulevard from the planned M. This was the $2 billion Southern Highlands Hotel-Casino commercial district; it was originally slated to feature 3,200 rooms in a 530-foot-high hotel tower, a 120,000-square-foot casino, and 12 restaurants. Construction was postponed before the project ever broke ground and there hasn’t not been a peep about its resumption.
Then, in spring 2008, a million-square-foot locals mall, to be developed and run by Taubman Centers, was announced for the M Resort area. This mall, which would have been roughly twice the size of the Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian, was projected to be completed in 2011. But it, too, was never started, though M’s website states, "Future developments for M Resort will bring up to one million square feet of retail in a partnership with Taubman Centers and a 14-screen digital movie entertainment complex."
So yes, plans have long been on the drawing boards for M Resort to receive some commercial company nine or so miles south of the south Strip. But when they become reality is anyone’s guess.
