Echelon On Ice for Three to Five Years

LAS VEGEAS-It could be three years, five years or longer before Boyd Gaming resumes construction of its $4.8-billion Echelon project, the company’s chief executive said on a conference call Tuesday. Kenneth Smith cited lower consumer spending, a glut of hotel rooms and a lack of financing for further delaying the 87-acre project initially scheduled to open next year.

Boyd Gaming owns and operates 16 gambling properties including nine in the Las Vegas Valley–six locals’ casinos and three Downtown properties. Echelon, its first property on the Las Vegas Strip, was scheduled to open in late 2010 with 5,000 rooms in five hotels, 750,000 square feet of convention and meeting space, 300,000 square feet of retail, two live entertainment venues, 30 dining and nightlife venues, a 140,000-square-foot casino and parking for 8,000 cars.

Work on Echelon officially got underway in June 2007. The company halted construction at the beginning of August 2008 due to the credit crunch and the ensuing recession, saying it hoped to resume construction in nine to 12 months. In November, Boyd acknowledged that it was “unlikely” to resume construction in 2009 but remained “committed to having a meaningful presence on the Las Vegas Strip,” and that it would spend this year preparing alternative development options for the site.