Las Vegas NowHotel Casinos Build Taller on North End of Strip

Hotel Casinos Build Taller on North End of Strip

In Las Vegas, companies bring down the old to make way for the new. It's hard to miss the progress on several projects along North Las Vegas Blvd. In addition to Encore, the Venetian is expanding with a project called Palazzo. Across the street is the Trump high-rise condominium. 

The sounds of that progress can be heard all over the north end of Las Vegas Blvd. The construction means jobs and money to this area. On the other side of Steve Wynn's new project is the Venetian's expansion. Palazzo will open in the fall of this year and employ thousands of people.

The hotel casino will be the tallest one in Las Vegas next to the Stratosphere. It will rise about 64 stories off the ground. Encore will open next year. It will have about 3000 hotel rooms.

Throw in Echelon Place, where the Stardust now stands and there will be an additional 10,000 new high-end hotel rooms. This is just on the north end of the Strip. 

By the end of the year, three new condo towers will also open, adding to another economic boom according to UNLV Gaming Research Center director Dave Schwartz.

"I think in the future, the North end of the Strip will be much higher. It's going to be more vertical. I think we have seen as land prices have gone up that's happened. We have seen that with Wynn and Encore and Palazzo being higher than the previous generation," said Schwartz.

Schwartz says by building now, the casinos will have new hotels in place when the economic slow down experienced across the United States turns around. 

He says the cost to build in Las Vegas will continue to rise, not fall. 

Email your comments to Reporter Edward Lawrence.