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Fireworks marking the grand opening of the $200 million Suncoast are seen from the resort's 10-story hotel tower Tuesday night. Photo by K.M. Cannon.

Wednesday, September 13, 2000
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Newest local resort opens with a bang

By KEVIN FERGUSON
lasvegas.com GAMING WIRE

     The newest Las Vegas casino opened Tuesday night after the $200 million Suncoast greeted customers with a five-minute, $75,000 fireworks show at the northwest Las Vegas property.

      An estimated 5,000 people worked their way into the Coast Resorts property, which is at Rampart Boulevard and Alta Drive is the latest offering in the competitive locals gaming market.

      "This is so fun. I've lived in California for 14 years, and I've never been to the Oscars or anything like this," Sun City resident Suzanne Myers said, as she waited for the doors to open.

      Coast Resorts executives had hoped to open the property as early as Sept. 1, but construction delays and fire-safety testing led to the postponement of employee training, prompting last night's unveiling.

      The Suncoast's 80,000-square-foot casino has 2,000 slot machines and 48 table games. And like many of the newer locals casinos, it has a wide range of nongambling activities, including a 16-screen movie theater, 500-seat showroom and a 64-lane bowling center.

      It also has four restaurants, a buffet, an oyster bar, a fast-food counter, a coffeehouse and an ice cream parlor, as well as a lounge and a showroom bar.

      The Suncoast opened with 200 hotel rooms, with that number expected to increase to 440 after the property's casino generates enough cash flow to complete the additional rooms.

      Coast Resorts executives plan to draw the bulk of their customers from the 300,000 people living within a 5-mile radius of the Suncoast. As many as 90 percent of the property's customers are expected to be locals.

      The company also owns and operates The Orleans and Gold Coast neighborhood casinos and the Barbary Coast along the Strip.

      Summerlin residents Eric and Pauline Groetzinger were among the opening night visitors, with Pauline saying she has been waiting for a nearby locals property that has movie theaters, restaurants and bowling. Eric offered a different take.

      "My philosophy is a little different," he said. "I'm going to play until my money's gone."

      Wall Street analysts estimate that the Las Vegas locals gaming market will win an estimated $4.7 billion from gamblers this year. That compares with the the nearly $10 billion won by Strip casinos in 1999.

      Station Casinos -- with its Boulder Station, Palace Station, Sunset Station, Texas Station and Wild Wild West -- controls nearly half of that market, and recently announced the pending purchases of the Fiesta and Santa Fe.

      The Suncoast sits to the south of the The Regent Las Vegas, the struggling year-old hotel-casino property that has had to alter its business plan to broaden its appeal to locals as well as upscale travelers.