By ROD SMITH
GAMING WIRE
Curtains up. It's showtime at Wynn Las Vegas.
With design work done, financing complete and shell construction wrapping
up, the $2.5 billion project becomes operational Monday when it starts
hiring
an expected 9,000 line employees, developer Steve Wynn said.
"We've passed the tipping point," he said. "However good
we were at design
and financing, it's the people who bring it to life. The hiring part is
the real game; Sunday afternoon at the Masters."
This time around, Wynn has his fans, and skeptics are hard to find.
Deutsche Bank analyst Andrew Zarnett said there isn't a chance of a flop
this close to opening.
"When you look at his experience, the numbers of qualified people
who want
to work with him, the people who know him, it'd be almost hard not to
hire
the right people," he said.
University of Nevada, Las
Vegas history department Chairman
Hal Rothman
said it's highly likely that Wynn will succeed in recruiting the best
and
the brightest, allowing him to unveil a premier property the way he wants
and reigniting excitement in Las Vegas as a destination.
"I can't figure out what will be done that will increase the level
of
luxury, but I believe he will do it. He'll raise the bar in important
ways," he said. "It's very clear Steve Wynn is a draw and an
opportunity
that can't be matched. He has a reputation that will draw the people he
wants to work for him. The prospects for his succeeding are enormous.
"Wynn Las Vegas should yield a huge return to the bottom line over
the
next year for the city, the county and the state as customers and the
just
plain curious come to see it."
Zarnett said because no major destination resort has opened in Las Vegas
in the past five years, the opening of Wynn Las Vegas will swell
visitation as thousands of people come to see "what Steve has built."
"Every time you have an opening in Las Vegas, there's a group of
naysayers
and they've never been right," Zarnett said. "Las Vegas has
continued to
grow through four waves of new property openings."
Rothman said the opening of Wynn Las Vegas should also be an opportunity
for Culinary Local 226 since Wynn's previous properties have all been
unionized and have set new standards for benefits.
Wynn says there is no way to run a first-class operation without the best
workers possible, and that means working with the Culinary.
Culinary Secretary-Treasurer D. Taylor said no deals have been worked
out
in advance. However, he expects workers to have the chance to vote on
organizing. After the vote, the union will negotiate a contract.
Wynn said the development, which has gone through several stages, has
reached the point of real excitement.
"I spent two years and five months with a felt-tip pen alone in a
room.
I'm in ecstacy during that period," he said.
Then he met the challenge of financing the project, which included a
public stock offering in 2002 that Wynn called harrowing. Wynn's
investment bankers were forced to drop the stock's price three times,
from
$20 to $18 to $15, before settling on its final $13 price.
Wynn Resorts shares closed at $58.15 Friday, up more than fourfold from
their October 2002 opening price.
After that, the sales department came on line to schedule business
meetings and conventions, and actual construction started, he said.
"Now, a whole other experience takes place. The organization is talking
back to me. All of a sudden, I'm in the back seat of the car and it's
delicious -- like watching your children grow up," Wynn said. "I
start to
meet managers I didn't know. That's so exciting because it's the judgment
of my smart colleagues."
Keeping his sense of humor amid the accelerating rush to open, however,
he
said the entire project is not only on time, but on budget.
Wynn has been renowned for going over budget on his previous projects,
and
for sparing no expense to make sure the designs have been executed to
his
standards.
He accepted the notion that with 32 years of experience under his belt,
he
may be better than in the past at laying out designs so they are developed
as he intended.
"But this is really an eye-popping kind of exercise, (partly because
we've
made such a premium, five-star hotel," Wynn said.
Wynn's goal, as it was with The Mirage (1989), Treasure Island (1993)
and
Bellagio (1998), is to open the entire 2,700-room resort complex all at
once, April 28, except for the "Avenue Q" show and theater,
which will
open on Labor Day.
"It's no small thing to pull off. And it's particularly difficult
when
you're opening cold like we are," he said. "That's one of the
big
challenges."
Wynn said that when he opened his previous Las Vegas properties, he was
operating other hotel-casinos from which he could draw employees.
This time, he has 57 operating systems, one of which is the Internet
recruiting program, all of which have to work at once.
"We're going to throw a switch and they're all going to have to work
perfectly on Day One," Wynn said.
Wynn's Chief Human Resources Officer Arte Nathan, who has helped open
all
of the developer's resorts since 1983, said going it alone with no sister
operations makes this project unique and the hiring that starts Monday
critical.
"We've always had sister properties. This time, we've had to work
harder
to implant the culture and get them to understand what we're trying to
accomplish," he said.
Still, Wynn said the property will open as scheduled on the birthday of
his wife, Elaine.
Nathan said: "Steve's known for this. He wants the place to feel
like it's
been open for six months on the opening day. Others try it, but he's just
relentless on this."
And he said Wynn is right to say recruiting, training, motivating and
retaining employees will make or break the project.
"The building (itself) is wonderful, but it has no spirit. The people
bring it to life and give the place its spirit," Nathan said.
