MGM, Station, Boyd donate USD 7.5M for new hotel college building at UNLV

“The significance of these gifts for the college and for the overall success of the project cannot be overstated. The support of industry giants like MGM, Boyd and Station Casinos represents a huge investment in our students and our future standing in the hospitality arena,” hotel college Dean Stowe Shoemaker said in a statement.

The university said the building will feature "sweeping views of the Las Vegas Strip and serve as a bridge to hospitality and gaming industry." Currently, much of the hotel college's operations are centered in the Stan Fulton Building, which sits in a relatively remote part of the campus along Flamingo Road.

Hospitality Hall will be erected on the university's North Field, right outside the Lied Library in the heart of campus.

The donations come after the legislature and Gov. Brian Sandoval just approved USD24.4 million in funding for the building. Fundraising started in 2010 with a USD2.5 million donation from Caesars Entertainment, which was followed up in 2014 with USD2.5 million from Konami Corporation and Las Vegas Sands.

The donations bring UNLV within USD17 million of the project's total cost of USD56 million. The remaining money will come from UNLV's own coffers. The university expects to break ground as early as the end of this year.