Gaming and hospitality giant Caesars Entertainment Corp. broke ground on Monday on a $375-million, 550,000-square-foot conference center as part of its strategy to further expand its operations beyond casino gambling.
CAESARS FORUM will be constructed on a single level and will feature what the operators said would be the world’s two largest pillarless ballrooms. The conference complex will also include 110,000 square feet of outdoor meeting and event space, a first for Las Vegas, six boardrooms, and two ballrooms, each one occupying 40,000 square feet.
Caesars is building its new venue on a portion of land located not far from its hotel and casino properties as well as the LINQ Promenade retail center.
The convention center is expected to be completed and opened in 2020. The company said yesterday that the construction stage will create more than 1,000 jobs, while 450 permanent jobs will be generated once the property is operational.
Demand for convention space in Las Vegas has been growing rapidly over the past several years and according to a report Morgan Stanley, existing space in the city is almost fully utilized. Caesars’ CAESARS FORUM will add 550,000 square feet of available space. A number of other gaming and hospitality operators have too undertaken convention facility construction projects in a bid to respond to and take advantage of the need for more space for meetings, conventions, and other business events.
A total of 2.147 million square feet of space are expected to be added to Las Vegas’ existing 11.5 million square feet over the next several years. MGM Resorts International is set to open a 77,000-square-foot facility at Park MGM, which will open doors later this year, and 250,000 square feet of space at MGM Grand, slated for late 2018/early 2019 opening.
In addition, Wynn Resorts will launch Wynn Paradise Park with 400,000 square feet of convention space in 2020 and Genting’s Resorts World Las Vegas, currently under development on the Strip’s northern end, will feature 150,000 square feet of convention space. The latter property will too open doors in 2020. Later that year, the Las Vegas Convention Center will launch its expanded operation with 750,000 square feet of space.
Caesars Closes Casino Deal in Indiana
In a separate round of news Caesars confirmed that it has completed the $1.7 billion acquisition of two gambling properties in Indiana. After the company was given the green light by the Indiana Gaming Commission earlier this month, it was able to move forward with the planned purchase of Hoosier Park Racing and Casino in Anderson, and Indiana Grand Racing and Casino in Shelbyville from local gaming company Centaur Holdings.
The transaction was completed after several months of uncertainties as Caesars and Centaur contested a requirement to pay a $50-million transfer fee. Under state gaming laws, a company that sells its gaming properties is required to pay the transfer fee unless the sale is the result from a bankruptcy proceeding or under very limited number of other circumstances.
Caesars and Centaur maintained that the fee did not apply to their deal, while gaming commissioners insisted that it should be paid in order for the transaction to be given regulatory approval. It emerged earlier this month that the involved parties have reached an agreement and that the transfer fee would be paid.
Caesars Seeks Sports Betting License for Its Atlantic City Business
New Jersey news outlets reported Monday that Caesars was among the companies to have applied for sports betting licenses from the state Division of Gaming Enforcement ahead of the upcoming football season in September.
It is understood that the Las Vegas gaming giant has submitted an application for the provision of in-person sports betting services at its Harrah’s and Bally’s properties and for mobile betting across its three Atlantic City properties, Caesars Atlantic City included.
The operator will thus be able to join a handful of companies to have already launched sports betting in New Jersey, following mid-May’s annulment of a long-standing federal ban on sports betting and June’s legalization of the activity by New Jersey lawmakers. Ocean Resort Casino, the Borgata, and Meadowlands Racetrack were the first state properties to open sports books.
According to official data released by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, the amount of $16.4 million was wagered by customers of the three properties during the first 17 days of legal sports betting in the state.
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