Question of the Day - 17 December 2023

In July 1976, the Casino opened on W. Sahara just west of the I-15 freeway; it was renamed Bingo Palace a year later. Toward the end of 1977, Frank Fertitta Jr. bought in for a 10% piece of the property. 

By then, Fertitta had been in Las Vegas for 17 years, after arriving in 1960 from Beaumont, Texas. He worked his way up the ranks of the casino business, starting as a luggage handler at the Tropicana, then as a dealer, pit boss, baccarat manager, casino manager, and general manager at the Stardust, Circus Circus, Sahara, and Fremont. 

Frank believed that the local Las Vegas market was underserved by the casinos on the Strip and downtown. He himself wanted a place where he and his fellow casino workers could congregate after work without having to fade the tourist business that they catered to at their jobs. In his fashion, he went from minority investor to vice president, then bought out his partners in 1979, started expanding the property, and renamed it Palace Station in 1984. 

It was, without a doubt, the first locals casino. 

Frank took the company public as Station Casinos in 1993 and used the proceeds to open Boulder Station a year later on the east side of the valley. By then, Frank had retired and his son, Frank III, took over as CEO, president, and chairman of the board. He was 32 years old. 

Boulder Station was followed by a riverboat in St. Charles, Missouri, then Texas Station in 1995, Sunset Station (1997), Green Valley Ranch (2001), and Red Rock Resort (2006). The company also went on an acquisitions spree, buying up the Santa Fe (2000) and the Fiesta and Reserve (renamed Fiesta Henderson) a year later. Aliante Station opened in 2008 and was sold to Boyd Gaming in 2016.

The Fertittas took the company private in 2006, declared bankruptcy in 2009 during the fallout from the Great Recession, and went public again in 2015 under the name Red Rock Resorts, Inc. 

The company bought the Palms in 2016, then sold it in 2021. 

Texas Station and the two Fiestas closed for the COVID shutdown in March 2020 and never reopened.

Which brings us to the Durango, which you cite in the question and opened a week and a half ago. 

All told, Red Rock Resorts now owns 17 casinos, including seven under the Station brand, eight under the Wildfire brand, plus Barley's and the Greens Cafe. 

As for the future, Station owns six major parcels in the metro area. Preliminary plans for a project on 49 acres at Inspirada in Henderson have been approved by the Henderson Planning Commission and will next be considered by the City Council. 

Meanwhile, the company continues to work on getting approval for its land entitlements for other projects around the valley, including the biggest site, 126 acres at Las Vegas Blvd. and Cactus Ave., across from South Point, and the 59 acres of the former Wild Wild West site at Tropicana Ave. and Dean Martin Drive. 

It's been reported that the company wants to double its presence in southern Nevada in the next 10 years and the way this place is growing and Station keeps pace, we'd bet on it.