Wynn to announce D.I. development plans soon

David Strow

Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2001 | 11:27 a.m.

Steve Wynn said he's just months away from revealing final plans for his newest resort casino on the Las Vegas Strip, a project he calls "the single most wonderful resort in the history of Las Vegas."

But following one of his rare public appearances Monday, Wynn was reticent to reveal more details about the project -- or whether his troubled partner, Japan's largest maker of pachinko gambling machines, would continue to be involved in the development.

Plans will be announced "late this spring," Wynn said. "Then you won't be able to shut me up."

Still, Wynn did reveal some additional details for the project during a keynote speech he delivered at the annual convention of the National Automobile Dealers Association. The resort will feature a 52-story, 585-foot tower, complete with 2,300 all-suite rooms, Wynn said.

"That's as high as the (Federal Aviation Administration) will allow us to go," Wynn said.

While built on a scale similar to the Bellagio and the Mirage, Wynn said the new resort will feature a more "intimate" feeling than his previous resorts. Wynn said he will seek $1 billion in financing through Deutsche Bank in late spring, and hopes to begin construction of the property in August or September.

"We're using every trick in the book to make it the most delicious experience in Las Vegas history," Wynn said. "It would only take a few minutes (to design) if we copied the Mirage or the Bellagio, but we don't want to copy the Mirage or the Bellagio. We want it to be better."

The project will take 30 months to build, he said, and will employ about 5,000 people when it opens.

"We'll have two years to hire the greatest workforce we can find," Wynn said. "I believe that will be the formula for success. For me, it's not the stuff, not the tigers, the volcanoes, the dancing (fountains). It's the people."

The design of the hotel tower is now complete, Wynn said, and he expects to complete the design of the resort's public areas by March.

"We're going to rip it (the D.I.) down and build a new one," Wynn said. "But before we do, some of us old guys will do something to remember those colorful days of Las Vegas. We're going to have a party before we rip it down. We're going to get one of those kooky guys from L.A. and have a seance."

Who would Wynn conjure up? The old owners of the Desert Inn, of course -- Howard Hughes, Moe Dalitz "and the Cleveland mob," Wynn said.

One friend coming into town to help Wynn with the design later this week will be Hollywood director Steven Spielberg. But Wynn said Spielberg wasn't a partner in the project, as has been speculated before.

"He just likes to work on the drawings," Wynn said.

Wynn declined to answer questions about the involvement of Tokyo-based Aruze Corp., Japan's largest maker of pachinko machines. Under a pact signed with Wynn last November, Aruze would invest $260 million to gain 50 percent equity control of Valvino Lamore, the Desert Inn's holding company.

In December, reports out of Japan indicated Aruze had been accused by Japanese officials of tax evasion. Aruze was accused of concealing about $35.1 million in income between 1996 and 1998 through Las Vegas-based affiliates, Japanese news services reported. The Nevada Gaming Control Board indicated it would examine the issue, though board Chairman Dennis Neilander said a tax dispute alone wouldn't necessarily hurt Okada's chances of receiving a Nevada gaming license.

"We will have to look at the nature of the problem," Neilander said in December. "We don't know all the Japanese tax laws and the procedures there, which is why we're going to take a close look at it." He indicated there would be cause for concern if it was found Aruze was willfully trying to evade taxes.