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Published Friday, May 16, 2008 | 6 p.m.
Updated Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008 | 2:14 p.m.
After losing at least one opportunity to build a suburban casino some years back, Boyd Gaming Corp. is close to signing a contract to build a casino as part of a proposed master-planned community to be built at a former industrial site in Henderson.
Land owner Landwell Co. is cleaning up the site, contaminated years ago by industrial waste from a nearby weapons plant.
Boyd spokesman Rob Stillwell declined to comment.
Under the arrangement, first reported by the Sun's sister publication, In Business Las Vegas, Boyd would purchase of 42 acres on the east side of Boulder Highway between Water Street and Warm Springs Road, building a casino there and demolishing its nearby casino Jokers Wild.
Boyd has been hamstrung by a 1997 state law that sets high hurdles for suburban casinos by requiring that they be built as part of master-planned communities or be a certain distance from homes, schools and churches.
Residents in the Spring Valley neighborhood used the law to kill a proposed Boyd casino in 2000 and the company's proposed casino in North Las Vegas' Park Highlands community, under way at the Las Vegas Valley and Losee Road, isn't certain because it needs zoning from the City Council and faces some opposition from the competition.
I would love to see this go through. Especially the part about demolishing the Jokers Wild dive lol.
Seriously now that the 215 and 95 freeways link up near this site, it's a good idea. They'll have an edge on Fiesta Henderson and be twice as close to the Strip as Lake Las Vegas. As much acreage on that site as they could need. Catch all the Arizona visitors before they get downtown. A lot of pros for this.
If they go through with it I hope they succeed. I would expect them to close on the land, and then take their time developing it. Given the state and scope of casino building in and around the valley, Boyd catching its breath might be a good thing. The contamination cleanup makes me a bit nervous too... seems like it always takes many more millions than anticipated.