Vineyards transformed into Polynesian casino resort

Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2001 | 10:55 a.m.

The owners of the Castaways hotel-casino in Las Vegas have purchased 32 acres near the Valley Auto Mall in Henderson to build a $150 million Polynesian-themed resort.

VSS Enterprises LLC plans to break ground by December for the as yet unnamed 200-room resort on the southwest corner of Warm Springs and Gibson roads on property formerly known as the Vineyards master plan.

Michael Villamor, president and chief executive officer of VSS Enterprises, said Tuesday his company bought the property from the Dunn Cos., which won approval on the 72-acre Vineyards plan from the Henderson City Council in late 1999. Terms of the property deal were not disclosed.

When Dunn won approval for the master plan, the company proposed two hotels on the acreage bounded by Warm Springs Road on the north, Gibson Road on the east, Kelso Dunes Avenue on the south and Marks Street on the west.

Under the new plan, Villamor said the new resort would be the only hotel and the rest of the land would be developed with commercial, professional and retail uses that would carry the Polynesian theme. The entire project has tentatively been called Tahitian Isles, but Villamor said the new resort has yet to be formally named.

Villamor said an architectural review change would be sought from Henderson city officials. If the company gets the approvals it needs, Villamor said the resort could be open by December 2002.

George Garcia of G.C. Garcia Inc., a planning consultant for the Dunn Cos., said the VSS Enterprises proposal is part of an evolving master plan.

Officials with the Dunn Cos. could not be reached for comment on other changes under consideration for the master plan.

When the Vineyards master plan was approved, developers envisioned two hotels on the site. One was a 220-room hotel, with a restaurant and casino, a 14,420-square-foot office building and a three-story parking garage. Dunn said at the time it was also planning to build an Embassy Suites Hotel.

The new VSS Enterprises project, envisioned as an upscale resort for business travelers as well as local residents, would have a four-story tower.

The rooms will be a combination of suites and four-plex cabanas resembling Polynesian tiki huts. Each suite will have views of the resort's tropical pool areas or the Las Vegas skyline. Amenities include two-line telephones with data ports, in-suite safes, ceiling fans, wet bars, refrigerators and whirlpool tubs.

A 32,000-square-foot casino is planned with 1,200 slot and video poker machines, 24 table games, a 500-seat bingo hall, a 100-seat race and sports book and a keno lounge.

The developers say the casino will have a setting like a tropical rain forest and the room will include skylights for an open feel. A 150-seat lounge will have nightly live entertainment, the developers said.

VSS' plans also call for a seafood and teriyaki restaurant, a Japanese "performance" grill, a 24-hour coffee shop and a buffet, an indoor-outdoor wedding chapel, two swimming pools with waterfalls and meandering streams and a 20,000-square-foot convention and meeting hall.

A luau garden area for buffets and brunches, luau parties, dances and community events also is planned.

An off-Strip luxury resort targeted for both visitors and locals has struggled financially in Summerlin, but that doesn't worry Villamor. The Resort at Summerlin is operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but Villamor said his resort would be successful because it not only offers something local residents haven't seen before, but he expects it to accommodate overflow traffic from the Castaways.

"Because we run so many tournaments (golf and bowling) through the Castaways, there will be plenty of cross-marketing opportunities," Villamor said. "Besides, there will be a number of amenities that will appeal to the local market and the restaurants will be priced right to attract and keep customers."

He also said because convention space is limited at the Castaways, the new property would be ideal for hosting small meetings and conferences.

The Castaways is a 450-room property at the Boulder Highway, south of Charleston Boulevard. Formerly known as the Showboat hotel-casino, traffic is driven by its 106-lane bowling center, one of the city's oldest.

The VSS Enterprises development team is led by Villamor, who served as an adviser in the development of Primm Valley Resorts, the Reserve hotel-casino in Henderson and the New York-New York hotel-casino on the Strip.

His team includes Gregg Schatzman, executive vice chairman and chief operating officer; James VanWoerkom, chief financial officer; and Dan Shaw, chairman.