Two Way Hard Three | Las Vegas Casino & Design Blog

September 24, 2006

Rumble Gets Louder on Harrah's Las Vegas Strip Plans

Posted by Hunter

An official announcement may be getting closer as the news reports start to be coming on a more regular basis. From what we read, the project's scope has expanded and thus we probably won't hear the details this month as expected.

The gist is the same - Harrah's is going to use the property they have on the Strip, combined with some acquisitions, to create a loosely integrated resort complex that retains the individual brands but still sits under a cohesive umbrella. How lose will the integration be? We don't know yet but that will be an interesting component.

What do you guys think? CityCenter is obviously a massive development but this could be bigger? The project would certainly be disruptive and likely undertaken in stages to mitigate the risk to Harrah's cash flow.

More details:
Las Vegas Sun - Jeff Simpson
LVRJ - Inside Gaming

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Categories: Business of Gaming, Caesars/Harrah's, Casino Design, Las Vegas Strip


Comments

Read archived comments (3 so far)
September 24, 2006 4:26 PM Posted by Mike P.

Here's a Reuters story with some more details:

http://yahoo.reuters.com/news/articlehybrid.aspx?storyID=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20060919:MTFH65359_2006-09-19_23-45-46_N19437484&type=comktNews&rpc=44

If the link doesn't work the interesting bits are that they plan to continue targeting their base market of middle income customers. There's also a pretty strong hint that IP will be redeveloped first, which makes a lot of sense to me.

Mike P.

September 26, 2006 8:24 AM Posted by detroit1051

Harrah's Strip development appears to be very different than MGM's CityCenter. MGM started with empty land sandwiched between Bellagio and Monte Carlo and decided to develop it at one time as a high-end community complete with another huge casino hotel, condos, condo-hotels and name brand boutique hotels.

Harrah's has a more challenging job ahead of it, in my opinion. It has to renovate/replace existing properties while at the same time protecting its cash flow. Harrah's is also more tightly tied to mid-market business than MGM, so it may be riskier investing so much in mid-market properties on the most valuable land in Las Vegas. All I know is what I've read in newspapers and on websites, but it looks like Harrah's will capitalize on three main brands, Caesars, Harrah's and Horseshoe. I assume Imperial Palace, Harrah's and Flamingo will all end up being one or several Harrah's properties; Bally's/Paris could be Horseshoe and Caesars will remain Caesars. I don't know what Barbary Coast will become, but it sure is critical for Harrah's master plan.

When I was in Las Vegas a couple weeks ago, I was amazed that even more apartment buildings had been cleared east of the Strip and west of Koval Lane. Harrah's will have a lot of land to develop for condos/mixed use in addition to the casino development on the Strip.

What will happen to the Rio? Will it be sold?

The reports I've read about business levels in Vegas and room rates indicate that the high-end is doing fine, but mid to lower end business is weaker. Will this affect Harrah's development? Will the real estate slowdown and ARM's affect Harrah's plans?

I don't stay at HET properties often, but I'm very impressed with its Total Rewards program and the cross-marketing between properties. I may have mentioned this here before, but a Host sent me a letter listing every show and event for the next several months at every HET property and said he would be my Host at any/all Harrah's properties in Las Vegas. That's a great concept.

September 27, 2006 9:53 AM Posted by detroit1051

Motley Fool on Harrah's:

http://www.fool.com/news/commentary/2006/commentary06092705.htm