Wynn Resorts will begin construction of its multibillion-dollar resort on Cotai the day after Chinese New Year.
The 11th February start date means the resort could be up and running early in 2016, according to a report in the Las Vegas Sun.
Chairman Steve Wynn said stabilization work has been completed on the reclaimed land under the site and foundation piers as deep as 300 feet will be drilled to begin work.
The company has pegged the cost of the resort at between US$3.5 billion and $4 billion.
Mr Wynn also shared publicly for the first time some of the design details of the Cotai property, which include dancing fountains and music in an artificial lake the size of Bellagio’s on the Las Vegas Strip and air-conditioned gondolas overhead.
“We are meeting in many, many new ways the challenge of our neighbors and hoping to get the folks in the other hotels to experience our own,” he said. “And all of this is such great fun.”
He credited the competition in Macau with keeping him on his toes. “Those guys have blood in their eyes. … The guys in the gaming industry in Asia are triple-sharp. … I listened to [Las Vegas Sands’ fourth quarter earnings call]. You don’t get numbers like that unless you’re on your game.”
Wynn made his remarks during Wynn Resorts’ fourth-quarter and full-year earnings conference call. The company reported declines in fourth-quarter and 2012 earnings and revenue, with gains from the company’s Las Vegas properties not enough to offset decreases in Macau. In the fourth quarter, the company reported net income of $111.4 million on revenue of $1.29 billion. Net income for the year was $502 million on revenue of $5.15 billion.
