Boyd Gaming Announces Fremont Hotel Expansion in Thriving Downtown Las Vegas

Posted on: October 5, 2018, 12:00h. 

Last updated on: October 5, 2018, 11:22h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

Boyd Gaming wants to add hundreds of rooms at its Fremont Hotel and Casino by adding a new hotel tower at the downtown Las Vegas property.

Boyd Gaming Fremont Las Vegas downtown
The Fremont Street Experience canopy will soon undergo a makeover, and the downtown Las Vegas street’s namesake casino hotel might too, should plans from Boyd Gaming receive approval from city officials. (Image: Fremont Hotel & Casino/Casino.org)

The casino operator has filed paperwork with the Las Vegas City Council seeking approval to build a 320-foot tall, 509-room hotel tower at Third Street and Ogden Avenue. Boyd also wants to completely renovate Fremont’s existing rooms by making them larger and subsequently reducing the number of occupancies from 447 to 227 rooms.

According to Eater Las Vegas, the project would also expand the ground floor by 22,200 square feet, which would predominantly consist of increased casino space and new sportsbook. Boyd explains construction would take some 30 months, and come in multiple phases. The company did not put a price tag on the plans.

The Fremont Hotel and Casino opened in 1956. Boyd Gaming acquired the property in 1985.

Downtown Going Up

Numerous investments are planned or underway in downtown Las Vegas, one of Nevada’s most thriving gaming markets.

The main attraction downtown, the Fremont Street Experience, is upgrading its world-famous video screen canopy that stretches 1,500 feet long and 90 feet wide. The $32 million investment will greatly increase the illuminance and brightness of the canopy, and allow it to be seen in daylight.

While a $32 million investment is substantial, it pales in comparison to what Derek Stevens is doing on the west side of Fremont Street Experience. The D Casino owner is underway with turning what was the Las Vegas Club, Mermaids, and Glitter Gulch into a 1.2 million-square-foot casino resort.

It’s been a long time in Las Vegas since anything new was built, but I think some of the projects coming up in the next couple years remind me of decades ago when there were so many new reasons to make people come to Las Vegas,” Stevens said last month.

Stevens is keeping many of the details private, including what the resort will be called (though the odds favor “Grandissimo”). He did reveal that the property will feature a jackpot of 777 hotel rooms and 117,000-square-foot gaming floor.

Revenue Surge

Downtown Las Vegas casinos have been on a tear in recent years, with gross gambling revenue (GGR) surging 12 percent in 2017 to $631.25 million. By comparison, the Strip saw GGR increase just 1.3 percent.

Of course, the Strip still dominates downtown in terms of total win, with casinos there collecting more than $6.4 billion last year. But executives and owners of the gaming venues in the city proper are bullish on the future, as their winning ways continue.

“We’re really excited about what we’ve created and designed,” Stevens explained. “And I feel much better doing this today than if we would have done it five years ago because the scope of the project would have been much different. I’m really excited about what we’ve got now.”

Apparently, Boyd Gaming is as well.