Las Vegas executives have offered new details on the development of the OVG Las Vegas Hotel & Casino. The venue is due to open in 2026, with a $3bn budget.
Tim Leiweke and Irving Azoff of Oak View Group have named the executives who will drive the development of this 2,000-room casino, which will also include a major sports and entertainment area. $1bn is allocated to be spent on the arena alone.
One executive is Randy Morton, former co-CEO of Foley Entertainment Group, who has four decades of experience in the hospitality executive industry, having also worked as president and chief operating officer at the Bellagio.
He will be joined by Marc Badain, former president of the Las Vegas Raiders, who had a hand in the relocation of the team to its 65,000-seater Allegiant stadium.
Badain spoke on the challenge this project presents and what it hopes to achieve. “We’re looking to build the greatest arena on Earth... Las Vegas needs it and Las Vegas deserves it.
“It’s time to put the investment behind it and Oak View Group is the best in the world at doing it – it has just completed a number of venues. They can bring all of that expertise and all the best practices from those venues and apply them to Las Vegas.”
Development is still in the early stages; the project will be built on about 25 acres at Las Vegas Boulevard and Blue Diamond Road, adjacent to Interstate 15.
Morton is enthusiastic about the resort’s location and prospects: “I love the location, from the access standpoint and from the connection to I-15 and I-215. The ease of getting in and out of this property will certainly benefit the casino business seven days a week”
I’m starting the process with Gensler (one of the design architects)... we’re very excited to be working on the master planning and get going on the layout of the flow of the project.”
This development does not end at the initial 25-acre estimate. Badain claims that 41 additional acres are part of the parcel being developed, with another 110-acre parcel for a high-speed rail station, a soccer stadium and then another 60-plus-acre parcel north of that.
“You’re really talking about a massive amount of development that’s going to occur over the next five to 10 years."
This ‘massive development’ will entail entertainment other than just the hotel. Badain states: “You’re going to have a live music entertainment venue for concerts and other events like you spoke of. Because it’s integrated into a resort property, you can incorporate any of the large-scale events going on at the hotel.”
The executives' enthusiasm for the project is obvious as outlined by Morton: “This is an incredible opportunity for me to get back into the luxury business.
“Marc’s very competitive and Tim Leiweke’s very competitive, so we’re excited to start working on this project and really build something special.”
