October 31, 2002 7:23 PM ET
Wynn's Le Reve casino breaks ground on Vegas
strip
By Steve Friess
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Casino magnate Steve Wynn Thursday broke
ground on his latest Las Vegas dream, the $2.4 billion Le Reve
mega-resort, facing down nervous investors who see the development
as a big gamble.
The sun-splashed groundbreaking by the 60-year-old casino
mogul's new company, Wynn Resorts Ltd., brought out Nevada political
heavyweights and climaxed with fireworks as the first shovels
of dirt were tossed.
Speakers including Wynn himself reminded the audience that
investors -- who last week gave a cool reception to an initial
public offering by Wynn's company -- had also underestimated
him back in 1987 when he envisioned the Mirage casino.
The success of that endeavor, famous for an artificial volcano
that still erupts regularly in the desert air, kicked off the
development of the modern Las Vegas Strip, now dotted with more
than a dozen themed resorts.
"Le Reve is part of that heritage," said Wynn, who called
himself "prophetic".
"I look upon Le Reve the way I did the Mirage, that it shows
my faith in the future of Las Vegas," said Wynn.
He aims for the Le Reve, which means "the dream" in French,
to set a new standard for luxury and top the opulence of the
Bellagio, which Wynn built and later sold.
The 192-acre Le Reve, which Wynn said required the largest
financing for a single-property construction project in U.S.
history, will open on the site of the legendary Desert Inn Resort
& Casino in April 2005.
It is expected to include 2,700 luxury rooms, a 111,000-square-foot
casino, 18 restaurants, an art gallery of Wynn's private collection,
including works by impressionist masters, a golf course and
a Ferrari and Maserati dealership.
The new project is Wynn's first under his signature company,
Wynn Resorts, which he formed after MGM Grand bought out his
Mirage Resorts Inc. to form MGM Mirage .
Le Reve will rise across the street from Wynn's first two
mega-resorts, the Mirage and Treasure Island.
Wynn Resorts debuted on the Nasdaq at $13 Friday, far below
the $23 Wynn had hoped for and reflective of investor jitters
about initial public offerings and the project.
Some analysts said the company was a gamble, since it will
not have any cash flow for more than three years.
Wynn and business partner Kazuo Okada, president of Japan's
Aruze Corp , bought about a third of the $450-million IPO to
save the deal and also raised $343 million in junk bonds. Shares
of Wynn Resorts rose just under 1 percent, or 11 cents, to $12.61
on Nasdaq. The shares ended their first day of trade at just
over $13.
Wynn said that raising the elegance level of Las Vegas resorts
would attract even more visitors without heating up competition
among the mega-casinos.
The groundbreaking amounted to a kind of veneration of Wynn,
with both U.S. senators from Nevada placing him in the entrepreneurial
pantheon with billionaire casino owners Howard Hughes and Kirk
Kerkorian, in terms of influence over the state.
"Steve Wynn has done more for Nevada than any business leader
in history," said Sen. Harry Reid. "He turns his dreams into
works of art. Las Vegas is his canvas."
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