Gaming

South Coast: Ahead of the development curve

By Liz Benston / Staff Writer

Blackjack players are shown during the grand opening of the South Coast on Dec. 22. Photo by R. Marsh Starks

Approaching the new South Coast from St. Rose Parkway to the south is a relatively boring drive. There's too much desert and not enough development, it seems, to support a major casino that will soon have close to 1,300 hotel rooms.

In a valley with a stupendous growth rate that has stumped skeptics for years, things aren't often what they seem. Thousands of homes and apartments are sprouting up a few miles east of the South Coast. Several thousand time shares are being built next door. The Grandview timeshare development, which promises to be the biggest in Las Vegas, will have little more than vending machines for residents on site.

It may be several years before the relatively desolate stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard from Mandalay Bay to St. Rose Parkway, already dubbed the South Strip by forward-thinking developers, becomes a true extension of the famed resort corridor. But South Coast parent Boyd Gaming -- known for its relatively conservative approach to development -- is happy to lay its chips on the table now.

The timing of South Coast is moving faster than executives had planned. Before Coast Casinos merged with Boyd in 2004, Coast bosses planned to expand the company's most profitable property. Located near affluent Summerlin, Suncoast was considered a gamble by many who believed it was too big and luxurious to survive in the commercial equivalent of the boondocks. But it proved a major hit in the neighborhood among retirees and other residents looking for things to do.

That was before rival Station Casinos announced the timing of the company's Red Rock Resort a few miles away at the corner of Charleston Boulevard and Interstate 215. Boyd decided to accelerate South Coast -- becoming the first major casino to open on Las Vegas Boulevard south of Mandalay Bay -- rather than expand its Summerlin casino first.

Being first has its advantages. Hundreds of people packed the place on opening night Dec. 22, creating an instant commercial hub where scrub brush, liquor stores and gas stations had dominated the landscape.

Many who showed up were nearby residents like George Zanatta and his son-in-law, David Golden. The pair, who moved to the Silverado Ranch neighborhood from San Diego, now go to casinos like the Orleans and Sunset Station to eat and, more importantly, bowl. They have been watching and waiting for the opening of the South Coast and its 64-lane bowling center.

While others feverishly pushed slot machine buttons, Zanatta and Golden dismissed the casino floor with a wave of the hand.

"I don't gamble," Golden said. "I'm going to join a (bowling) league."

"I like the oyster bar here," Zanetta added.

Others were there to press their luck on the South Coast's 2,350 slot machines. Many had received offers in the mail to gamble with $20 in slot credits.

The casino is the first Boyd-Coast property to open with a computerized system allowing members of the company's "Club Coast" gambler program to download "credits" directly onto the machine they are playing. Like the Suncoast, all of the slots at South Coast dispense redeemable tickets instead of coins.

The South Coast is no Wynn Las Vegas, nor is it even a Green Valley Ranch, which features an expensive-looking steakhouse, sleek nightclub and salon and modern pool and terraced landscape with a view of the Strip.

What it offers is something else entirely -- convenience. The layout is simple enough that even someone who has never navigated a casino before couldn't possibly get lost. A coffee and bakery sit right near the front door much like a Starbucks at a strip mall.

Think of the casino floor as one giant ballroom on the ground floor with no corridors or escalators or divider walls. Someone standing at one end of the room could raise her hand and easily catch the eye of another person standing at the other end.

While its design seems most similar to the Suncoast, the South Coast is different in small but potentially significant ways.

In part to build into the structure more room for future casino expansion, Boyd and Coast decided to relocate the movie theater upstairs. The South Coast may be the only locals casino to consolidate its more "family-friendly" activities on a second floor and away from the slot floor.

Upstairs, children and adults can see a first-run movie on one of 16 digital screens or go bowling. Parents can stash their kids in an arcade and play area and gamble in a cavernous, 600-seat bingo room across the hall. By contrast, the Suncoast-- like most locals casinos -- offer slots that are a stone's throw from their movie theaters.

The ceiling above the main casino floor is higher and lighter and opens directly to daylight on at least three sides -- all designed to give the place an airier feel. The aisles between the slots also are wider than in other casinos, Boyd's top executive says.

These may not be revolutionary concepts. Yet in the slow-to-change world of casinos, the South Coast is another step away from the cramped, dark and confusing casinos of Vegas' past.

Then there's the air filtration system. South Coast is a smoking environment, to be sure, but Coast bosses say the filter system is an improvement over the Suncoast, built in 2000. The Suncoast filters air several times per hour while the South Coast filters air continuously, promising cleaner air, they say.

The South Coast is another improvement on a locals casino formula that has proven successful over the years, Chief Executive Bill Boyd said.

"We knew lots of people liked to visit casinos," Boyd said on opening day. "The idea was to make it convenient for your customers to come."

It's hard to imagine a more convenient location than the first major casino in one of the fastest-growing areas of the valley and the first drivers see as they approach the outskirts of town.

For all of the South Coast's strong points, some locals jaded by years of casino openings were less than impressed with the results.

"The casino floor looks so small," North Las Vegas resident Devina Jackson said. Jackson, who made a very long drive down Las Vegas Boulevard to have a go at the slots on opening night, also was disappointed by the relative lack of nickel slots and "10 times pay" reel machines.

"I came down here to see what all the hype was about," she said. "It wasn't all that."

Liz Benston covers gaming for In Business Las Vegas and its sister publication, the Las Vegas Sun. She can be reached at (702) 259-4077 or by e-mail at benston@lasvegassun.com.

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