Scott Kreeger has been part of many of the planning meetings for the newest Station Casinos resort.
He’s had a hand in helping shape everything from the entertainment and food options to the color scheme.
But asked to pinpoint one trapping that stands out about Durango Resort, Kreeger pauses for a moment before speaking. There are simply too many options, he indicates.
He can’t wait for locals to visit, where “there will be so much to do that you are there all night,” said Kreeger, president of Red Rock Resorts, the parent company of Station Casinos.
An artist's rendering of the lobby bar at Durango Resort, which is expected to be finished in late 2023.
Company officials broke ground today on the 83,178-square-foot property located in Rhodes Ranch off the 215 Beltway at Durango Drive. The area is considered a casino desert, and like all of the other Station properties, Durango Resort will be located near a highway exit.
The project is expected to be finished in late 2023.
“When we looked at our potential development sites across the valley it was an absolute no-brainer to look at the southwest and the Durango location,” Kreeger said. “Economically, the demographics are just as good as Red Rock, our most successful property. ...We considered it an underserved area and we’re excited to join the neighborhood.”
The $750 million project is the company’s first build since Red Rock in 2006. The new property will take “the DNA of what they did there” with a fresh and relevant spin, he said.
There will be 200 rooms and suites, 40 electric car-charging stations, a food hall concept with fast-casual eateries, and 20,000 square feet of meeting and convention space. There will also be a resort-style pool with private cabanas and an event lawn for outdoor gatherings.
“What we try to do is learn from each property we build and stay relevant to the preference of our customers,” Kreeger said.
The sportsbook, with an indoor-outdoor viewing concept, could be considered one of the main attractions. The same could be said for the lobby bar, which is tucked away from the hotel’s main entrance and will feature numerous seating groups for meetings and plug-in stations for visitors who are at work. Like the sportsbook, the bar will also open to the outdoors, officials said.
The property will be a modern desert oasis, Kreeger said, where visitors will notice natural stone-clad floors and walls, and plenty of natural light.
“You will be impressed with clean and modern representation of the desert format,” Kreeger said.
Station Casinos has 45-year history of building resorts catered to locals, starting with Palace Station in the mid-1970s and spanning all corners of the valley. Durango Resort is the next project, but might not be the last because “we have the best growth story in the gaming industry,” Kreeger said.
Station still has several properties — Fiesta Henderson, Fiesta Rancho and Texas Station — that remain shuttered from the business closures of March 2020 brought on by the pandemic. Kreeger said they are “constantly evaluating the right time” to reopen those properties.
The company in May 2021 sold another of its closed properties, parting with the Palms near the Strip to the San Manuel tribe for $650 million. That property could reopen as early as this spring.
Station Casinos on March 11, 2022, broke ground on Durango Resort, the local casino giant's newest property. It will debut in late 2023 off the 215 Beltway at Durango Drive. Officials who took part in the ceremonial ground breaking include: From left to Right: Scott Kreeger, President of Station Casinos, Albie Colotto, Director of Design, Bill Richardson, Principal at W. A. Richardson Builders, Lorenzo J. Fertitta, Vice Chairman Red Rock Resorts, Frank J. Fertitta, III Chairman Red Rock Resorts, Victoria Crowe, Vice President Station Casinos, Frank Fertitta IV, Vice President Station Casinos.
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