Henderson casino plan changed

David Strow

Thursday, Oct. 11, 2001 | 9:23 a.m.

The owners of the Castaways hotel-casino have backed away from their plans to build a Polynesian-themed resort in Henderson, following a wave of opposition spearheaded by Station Casinos Inc.

One month ago VSS Enterprises LLC announced it planned to build a $150 million, 200-room hotel-casino on a 32-acre land parcel it acquired at the southwest corner of Warm Springs and Gibson roads. Under SB 208 -- a state law meant to restrict new casino development in neighborhoods -- a casino had to open at the site by December 2002, or the right to build a gaming property there would be lost.

Now VSS President and Chief Executive Michael Villamor said he no longer believes a project can be approved, built and opened at the site by December 2002. So on Wednesday, VSS withdrew the plan and reverted to plans approved by Henderson city officials in 1998.

One of the key reasons for the switch, Villamor said, was an intense opposition campaign that sprang up shortly after VSS announced its "Tahitian Isles" plans. Opponents handed out leaflets urging residents to call Henderson officials and postcards opposing the project intended to be mailed to city officials, Villamor said.

Though still confident he could win approval for the new plans, Villamor said he wasn't confident everything could be done with less than 15 months left.

"We don't have absolute proof it's any one person," Villamor said. "We know there is a local competitor that has rallied up some outside groups to oppose the project."

A Station Casinos official acknowledged his company had stirred up the campaign. The company's Sunset Station hotel-casino is located near the VSS site, and it owns the Reserve hotel-casino in Henderson. Station and the Greenspun family -- owner of the Las Vegas Sun -- are also opening a hotel-casino in December further away in the Green Valley Ranch area of Henderson.

"We took a very open and active opposition to them changing these entitlements, because to do that would have been a violation of SB 208," said Scott Nielson, executive vice president and general counsel of Station. "It's a benefit to businesses and the community in general that everyone know what the rules are, and everyone play by those rules."

Nielson denied Station had funded any materials used in opposition campaigns, but said the company had worked with neighborhood groups that were fighting the project.

Both Tahitian Isles and the Vineyards -- the 1998 plan -- encompass 30,000 square feet of casino space. But where Tahitian Isles put that casino space under one roof, the Vineyards splits it into two casinos. Each Vineyards casino will have a 200-room hotel, doubling the number of planned hotel rooms at the site. By splitting into two properties, the cost of the project will rise to $200 million.

"(In 1998), we didn't oppose it, because it was supposed to be two small gaming facilities that were an amenity to business travel hotels," Nielson. "They never said they were going to build a locals casino."

But Villamor argued the new project would have been more beneficial for the neighborhood, since it moved the casino further away from residential areas.

The Vineyards project will have a heavy business component, and incorporate more convention and meeting space than the Tahitian Isles proposal, Villamor said. But he's also insisting he'll still try to capture local business by cross-marketing the properties with the Castaways, located on the Boulder Strip.

The remainder of the 72 acres owned by VSS at the site will be developed into commercial space, retail and restaurants.

"We feel very confident we can still build a very classy place," Villamor said.

The new casinos should open by year-end 2002, Villamor said.