Wynn Macau’s Phase I expansion of Wynn Palace will cost an estimated US$2 billion and include a 650-room hotel tower alongside a large glass structure known as the Crystal Pavilion, the company revealed on Wednesday.
Further details of the project were unveiled at a Wynn Resorts investor day held in Boston overnight, with a delay in groundbreaking from the previously planned 2020 until late 2021 meaning the first phase is now scheduled for completion by 2025.
According to a note from JP Morgan’s DS Kim, Jeremy An and Christine Wang, the expansion will largely focus on the Crystal Pavilion which will be a non-gaming facility with art, entertainment and F&B amenities.
Details on Phase II, which will add a second 650-room hotel, have yet to be confirmed.
Wynn Resorts CEO and President Matt Maddox has previously described the planned Crystal Pavilion as providing an immersive experience similar to one found at the Vatican “with screens on the walls and on the ceiling, so the audience has a 270-degree experience including live entertainment on the stage.
“We thought if we take that idea and custom build it in this area with a great 600-foot theater and make it fully immersive, that experience would be like no other on the planet.”
Construction of Phase I is expected to take around three years with Wynn targeting ROI of 15% to 20%, “implying incremental EBITDA of US$300 to US$400 million from Phase I (or a 35-47% boost to the Palace’s TTM EBITDA), which seems a bit aggressive for primarily non-gaming expansion,” JP Morgan said.
