Question of the Day - 11 March 2018

We’d hardly describe Wynn West as “on tap,” as it only existed as a vague concept before it was quickly eclipsed by the story alleging Steve Wynn’s sexual harassments in the Wall Street Journal. Having spent over $300 million on the land, Wynn Resorts will undoubtedly feel some shareholder pressure to do something with it, but what form that takes, we don't know. It depends in part on how aggressive management is now that they no longer have Steve Wynn as CEO. (The new CEO is Matthew Maddox, 42, a 16-year Wynn Resorts employee who worked on Wynn's Asia projects for the first few years, then become the CFO, then president.)

We’d put Wynn West in the “unforeseeable future” category.

Resorts World Las Vegas, the Drew (the new name for the old Fontainebleau), and Wynn Paradise Park are all tagged with 2020 opening dates. Were we taking odds on the race, we’d pick Paradise Park to win, in large part because Wynn Resorts is already busy tearing up its golf course to make room for the resort and convention center and conventioneers are a prime demographic that the Wynn company wants to  pursue. Indeed, they're the project’s reason for being. The lake and its amenities may be scaled down a bit, but we like this property’s chances to make it to market before its rivals, even if they both already have more infrastructure in place.

Resorts World has been an on-again/off-again project, plagued by weak credit markets and a change of design, reportedly from the heavy chinoiserie initially championed by architect Paul Steelman to something more reflective of contemporary China. Genting Group, owner of Resorts World, seemingly can’t concentrate on more than one project at a time and has lately been focused on its billion-dollar-plus megaresort in the Catskills. 2020 would seem like enough time to get Resorts World Las Vegas completed, but Genting has an established pattern of missing deadlines on this project, which was supposed to be already open.

As for The Drew (and its seemingly random name), it inherits a project that’s supposedly 70% complete. We don’t buy that figure, especially since Carl Icahn sold all the furniture, took out the custom-designed escalators, and got rid of the construction crane. New owner Steven Witkoff will have to find financing to the tune of several billion dollars, remediate a structure that’s been exposed to the elements for nearly a decade, and pony up for his promise to completely redesign the rooftop pool deck. On the plus side, Witkoff has a hotel partner in JW Marriott. 

In the end, we believe (for now) that all these projects will make it across the finish line. It’s just a question of when and we think Wynn Paradise Park will make it first.