Durango's second-phase expansion could start by year's end, Station Casinos executives say

Red Rock Resorts subsidiary Station Casinos has hinted at expansion plans for its recently inaugurated Durango Resort. The resort could move forward with expansion by the end of this year or early next year, according to company executives.

The potential expansion of the resort comes amid its strong debut in the local casino market. Company officials said Tuesday that Durango will achieve its margin goals faster than originally planned, reports Las Vegas Review-Journal. However, some cannibalization in customers at Red Rock Resort has occurred, the executives stated during the company's first-quarter earnings call with Wall Street analysts.

Speaking about future development plans, management said that Red Rock Resorts will first focus on developing a 100,000-square-foot casino with the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians in Madera, California. That project is expected to break ground in the third quarter. 

Following groundbreaking in California, the plans to develop Durango’s second phase could take shape by the end of 2024 or early 2025. Simultaneously, the company is working on entitlements and planning for those projects plus at a site in Henderson’s Inspirada community. 

For the quarter that ended March 31st, 2024, Red Rock reported a net income of $78.4 million, or 73 cents per share, on net revenue of $488.9 million. In the same period last year, the company generated a net income of $85.5 million, or 77 cents per share, on net revenue of $433.6 million.

Location a key factor for the company

Red Rock Resorts noted that growth, in both financial results and increasing customers in the database, had much to do with the location of their properties. Executives highlighted that southwest Las Vegas Valley’s population growth is at a higher rate than the rest of the region.

That population growth is likely to benefit two parcels in the company’s landbank for future development. These sites include 45 acres in Inspirada and 126 acres at Cactus Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard.

“We have a little bit of a wind at our back with new customers coming online literally every month,” CEO Frank Fertitta said, as reported by Review-Journal.

Red Rock is known for its strategy of buying gaming-entitled parcels and holding onto them for future development or sale. The company is currently marketing its former Wild Wild West site, a 100-acre parcel near Interstate 15 on Tropicana Avenue, and about 40 acres of the Cactus site.