Nevada Gaming Commission gives final regulatory approval for Durango Casino
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LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Nevada gaming commissioners have given the final regulatory green light to Red Rock Resorts to open the new Durango Casino. The property is scheduled to open on Nov. 20 in the southwest part of the valley.
Durango Casino's General Manager, David Horn, told commissioners the property will be considered one of the company's luxury properties and there is a lot to look forward to.
"We will have 209 rooms as well as 28 suites. We will have a fabulous pit with 63 table games and about 2,300 slot machines. We will have a high-limit area," Horn said. "We anticipate room rates to be on par with Red Rock Resort rates. However, it's due to activity around the city."
Horn also gave more insight into what food offerings will be at the resort. According to Horn, the resort will have its own steakhouse and seafood restaurant, their own oyster house, and multiple partners, which you can see listed below.
- Summerhouse, an American grill that will be run by Lettuce Entertainment Group
- Sushi by Yu-Or-Mi
- Shang's Artisan Noodle
- 'Ai Pono Cafe, out of Costa mesa
- Osteria Fiorella
- Uncle Paulie's
- Herb's Burgers, out of Los Angeles
- Prince Street Pizza, out of Los Angeles
- Vesta Coffee Roasters
- Nielsen's Custard
Horn said there has been a lot of enthusiasm in the community about potential jobs and they've received a ton of applications.
"We've had 25,000 applicants. We plan on employing 1,450 people ourselves in the building and there will be an additional 400 to 500 people hired by tenant partners," Horn said. "There's lots of competition in this city and we couldn't be happier with the results. As of Wednesday, about 55% of the workforce has been hired and accepted roles with us. We expect that to ramp up over the next couple of weeks as we get closer to opening."
Horn said about 30% to 40% of those that have been hired so far and transferring to the property from other Station Casinos property while the rest are new hires.
"There's stress and anxiety at different levels throughout this process with the bringing everything together at the same time," Horn told commissioners. "The building getting finished, people getting hired, transferring those people in, training them to what our level and standards are, make sure they're comfortable, make sure they get everything they expect when coming into the building and making sure their areas are functioning and working. I think that the people we've hired and the people that are part of my executive team have been through several opening and I think that adaptability allows them to create a team that can have a fantastic opening for us."
While the property is getting ready to open its doors, the labor debate is continuing between Station Casinos properties and members of Culinary Workers Local 226. During the public comment part of the hearing, multiple employees spoke both for against and for Station Casinos. However, gaming commissioners said they didn't want to weigh in while there is active litigation pending with the National Labor Relations Board, who is handling the matter.
"With respect to the labor disputes, it's not my intent to get in the middle of them but they do concern me," commissioner Rosa Solis-Rainey said. "I've seen both sides of Station. These allegations are a side that hasn't been defined or found so I'm not holding that against anybody. They've done a tremendous amount of good in the community so to see these disputes is troubling to me and hopefully, you can work them out. Family doesn't always see eye-to-eye on things but they're still family and they still have to take care of each other."
Chairwoman Jennifer Togliatti echoed that sentiment.
"There is active litigation going on before NLRB. It's very protracted and it's very complicated and it's very prolonged," Togliatti said. "When you're a judge, you treat similarly situated persons and situations the same so people can come into a court system and rely on consistency and expectation. I believe our board does the same thing."
According to Station Casinos, Durango is one of seven properties they're looking to open over the next decade. However, since 2009, Red Rock Resorts has closed Texas Station in North Las Vegas as well as the Fiesta properties in North Las Vegas and in Henderson.
