Two Way Hard Three | Las Vegas Casino & Design Blog

This was no surprise. I expected this, Wynn expected this. This company is in such a fantastic position, with both the sale of the concession and the open of Macau only 5 weeks away. I listened to the live call. He said the closing of the sale should come in just weeks, and he said he has secured the land in Cotai, and that could close next month. This deal is so final, that the government has already given him approval to start construction last month, but due to plans that are not done, he is waiting. The profits will flow in due time.

Its easy to get carried away by Cotai, but the fact remains that it is still an empty piece of dirt apart from the Venetian site and the Macau Dome, a golf course and the go-kart track at the Coloane end. Its going to be years before it gathers any traction. From a report I've seen it is also apparent that the block of land Wynn is buying in Cotai is not exactly in a great position. Also keep in mind that labour and construction costs are up well over 20% in the last year alone in Macau, still rising fast, and unemployment is below 4% (the rate at which most economists believe that all people who are interested in working are actually working). Certainly nobody is going to be able to get away with building something like the Sands on the cheap and making their money back within a year ever again.

The transport system in Macau is also ill-equipped to cope with large numbers of people moving around from Macau to Taipa and Cotai. The road system is often congested, the bus system is horrible, there is no rail system (they haven't even begun work on the proposed light rail yet) and its getting increasingly difficult to get a taxi.

I dropped by the Grand Waldo on Saturday night - which opened last month (I believe) and is technically the first casino/hotel to open in Cotai (to the extent that it was built on reclaimed land between Taipa and Coloane). The casino portion is operated using Galaxy's gaming concession. It seemed to me that the layout of the gaming area was loosely based on the Sands. But unlike the Sands (which was again packed) probably only half the tables and less than 20% of the slots were in use. I'll take a few photos when I am back in the area on Saturday.

I guess the good news for Wynn is that the people in Macau seem to be gravitating towards the better quality venues - which is also borne out by the fact that Sands revenue grew 100% last year while Stanley Ho's actually dropped a few percent.

The MGM Grand Macau is rising fast and by the time of the Wynn opening should be around the same height as the Wynn hotel tower. So a mid-2007 opening is probably not out of the question.

I have been consistently confused by Wynn Las Vegas...has it began profiting yet or is it still losing money..and is it surpassing Bellagio in profits?

Josh - No its not making a profit as of yet. Its very close, and will be in the next few quarters. Its not doing more revenue that Bellagio, but it has only about 66% of the rooms that Bellagio has also. Its doing more business than any hotel in town per room though. And it has the highest average room rate. He's getting there, don't worry. They didn't build Rome over night either!

Here's a link to a really nice rendering of Wynn Macau.

http://xprnnews.xfn.info/wynnmacau/20060510/Artist's%20Impression%20of%20Wynn%20Macau%20for%20Press%20Kit.jpg

Posted by detroit1051

For Sale: Modest Shadow Creek Home.
Here's a link to a real estate offering. Steve's former Shadow Creek home is on the market for $28 Million. MGM paid Steve $15.5 Million for it.
http://www.lvbusinesspress.com/articles/2006/08/07/news/news06.txt

Here's the virtual tour of the house:

http://www.lasvegasfinehomes.com/MyHomeDtl.asp?HomeID=372138

Interesting stuff.

For the stalkers among us:
http://tinyurl.com/ngjpa

In the middle of the course is the clubhouse, to the left Marc Schorr's former home and to the right is Wynn's.

The history of the home has got to be a major factor in what they're asking. I know real estate has surged since '02 when it sold for 4.7 million, but from the shot above it looks like Schorr had the more lavish home.