Thursday, April 07, 2016

Wynn Paradise Park Lagoon

Wynn Resorts held an investor day presentation yesterday. In an effort to share more about upcoming projects Wynn addressed investors for two and a half hours, and the company released a ton of renderings of the upcoming Wynn Palace Macau and Wynn Boston.

Many topics were discussed, but the item grabbing all the headlines is the plan to redevelop the golf course behind Wynn and Encore in Las Vegas. The new project could have a budget as high as $1.6 billion and would include a hotel, small casino, restaurants and retail.

The centerpiece of Wynn Paradise Park would be a large lagoon where guests could partake in a variety of water activities. The company would also plan to launch fireworks over the lagoon every night, just like at Disney.



Even with this model of what Wynn Paradise Park would look like, I'm still skeptical of this actually happening anytime soon. If it does get built I'm guessing the lagoon will be scaled down a bit. Something about building a huge lake in the middle of drought-ridden desert just doesn't feel right. I know what you're going to say - Wynn already did it a Bellagio. True, but this looks like a much bigger undertaking.

Either way, a project like this just underscores the continued expansion of non-gaming activities in Las Vegas. Even though the new hotel will have a casino, it's clear the focus will be on dining, shopping, and the lagoon attraction. Wynn Paradise Park would fit right in with the new outdoor spaces on the Strip - Caesars Entertainment's The Linq and MGM's The Park.

Each one of these features a main attraction to bring people in - the High Roller wheel at The Linq, T-Mobile Arena at The Park, and now the lagoon at Paradise Park.