In July 2002,
Station Casinos and
Howard Hughes Corporation made a deal that gave Station Casinos the option to purchase a (later 67.6 acres) Station Casinos tentatively referred to the project as Charleston Station. By April 2003, the project had been named "Red Rock Station", after the
Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, located approximately three miles away.
Opposition The project initially was to include a 23-story, hotel tower with 1,000 rooms in its first phase, while future phases would add two 23-story, timeshare condominium towers with 250 rooms each, for an ultimate total of 1,500 rooms. Nearby homeowners had also been informed upon purchasing their houses that the land was zoned for a potential casino project. The
Culinary Workers Union, along with environmental organizations
Sierra Club and
The Conservation Fund, joined opponents of the project, stating that the tower would ruin the nearby views. At a cost of approximately $4,000, Culinary and the Sierra Club mailed fliers to more than 10,000 residents, urging them to tell the
Clark County Commission to reject the 300-foot tower. It was the first time that the union had teamed up with an environmental group to become involved in an environmental issue. At the time, Culinary had been involved in an ongoing effort to unionize Station Casinos' 11,000 employees. which received a mixed reaction of opposition and support. Several days later, the Clark County Planning Commission approved the 300-foot tower. Residents continued to oppose the tower, and opponents worked to gather support in an effort to derail the project. Opposition groups sent recorded phone messages to more than 200,000
southern Nevada residents urging against the project, and rallies supporting and opposing the project were held in November 2003. By December 2003, a county voice mailbox had received 591 recorded messages since September, with 494 of the messages from opponents of the project or its tower; 97 of the messages were from supporters. The county had also received over 3,200 emails and letters, with approximately 100 of them in support of the project. That month, the Clark County Commission delayed a vote on the project until January 2004, while telling opponents and supporters to work on a compromise ahead of the vote. Station Casinos stated that a 300-foot tower was necessary to ensure that guests would have unobstructed views of the
Las Vegas Strip in the event that previously approved office towers would be built nearby the project. In subsequent negotiations, Station Casinos was willing to decrease the 300-foot tower to , while opponents would support nothing above . Station Casinos agreed to reduce its timeshare towers to 100 feet, removing 250 rooms from the project. After weeks of negotiations, Station Casinos and Summerlin residents compromised on a hotel tower and the complete removal of the timeshare buildings. The redesigned project was unanimously approved by the Clark County Commission in January 2004, with approval to build up to 1,000 rooms. with a price between $450 million and $475 million.
Construction The Red Rock resort was built in what would eventually become
Downtown Summerlin. A
groundbreaking ceremony was held for the resort on April 15, 2004, with an opening scheduled for early 2006.
Perini Building Company was the
general contractor for the project, In May 2004, the Red Rock Station passed the Clark County Commission's design review without opposition. In December 2004, despite residential opposition, the Clark County Commission approved two signs for the future resort: an 80-foot high sign with a video screen, to be built on the east side of the Las Vegas Beltway; and a 50-foot high sign, also with a video screen, to be built on West Charleston Boulevard. As of January 2005, the resort was expected to cost $475 million. On March 15, 2005, Station Casinos announced plans to begin expanding the Red Rock Station before its opening, including an increase in hotel rooms from 400 to 850. The expansion was scheduled to begin in late 2005, with completion expected by late 2006. The expansion and rising construction costs increased the project's estimated cost to $800 million, which would make it the most expensive
locals casino ever built in Las Vegas. The project was
topped off on March 24, 2005, at which point it was known as Red Rock Resort Spa Casino. "Resort" was added to the name instead of the usual "Station" name used with the company's other properties, in order to denote the Red Rock property's luxury image. An opening date of March 2006 was expected. For customer convenience, the resort was built with six entrances, two parking garages, two parking lots, and two valets. Station Casinos planned to hire 2,600 people for the Red Rock Resort, with approximately half of them expected to be transferred employees from the company's other local properties. More than 100,000 people applied for jobs at the resort during 2005. A survey prior to the opening showed only minimal neighborhood opposition to the resort. Selected audiences were allowed to tour the resort in March and April 2006, prior to its opening. Singer
Sting held a one-hour concert at the resort's pool area as part of the grand opening celebration, which also included a six-minute fireworks show. Built at a cost of $925 million, the Red Rock Resort was Station Casinos' most expensive property. Approximately 80 percent of revenue was expected to come from local residents. The resort opened with 415 hotel rooms, approximately half of its final room count. The remaining rooms, part of an expansion to the hotel tower, were expected to be open by December 2006. The casino featured 62 gaming tables, The casino also included a bingo room, The resort also featured of meeting space, and a luxury spa. The pool area was located in the center of the resort property, surrounded by several restaurants, clubs, and the spa. A 16-screen movie theater, operated by
Regal Cinemas, opened on April 21, 2006. As of July 2006, groundbreaking had begun on a 72-lane bowling alley, while the hotel expansion opened in January 2007. The bowling alley and an additional 1,000 spaces to a parking garage were part of a $65 million expansion, while the additional hotel rooms were included in the resort's original $925 million cost. In 2007, U.S. presidential candidate
Rudy Giuliani held a campaign fundraiser at the resort. After winning the
2010 Nevada gubernatorial election,
Brian Sandoval celebrated his victory at the Red Rock Resort. During late 2011, the Red Rock Resort was the only casino in Nevada to offer the "Bonus Box," the name used for cylindrical containers attached to slot machines that dispense prizes to gamblers. At the resort, the cylinders each contained $500 and were attached to 10 different slot machines as part of a field test, which was viewed favorably by customers. After winning the 2012
Nevada caucus, U.S. presidential candidate
Mitt Romney held a victory party and speech at the resort. Also during 2012, a 79-year-old woman bowled a
perfect 300-score game at the resort's bowling alley, becoming the oldest woman in Nevada history to score a perfect game and the second-oldest woman in U.S. history to do so. In April 2014, plans were announced for a six-month, $35 million expansion that was scheduled to be complete by October 2014. The upcoming opening of the nearby
Downtown Summerlin mall prompted the resort's renovation project. The project would include the addition of a "restaurant row" along the resort building's entrance facing West Charleston Boulevard. Most of the hotel rooms were renovated from 2019 to 2020. In 2019, resort employees voted against unionizing with the Culinary union, after Station introduced new worker incentives and benefits. A federal judge ruled in 2021 that the company's rollout of the benefits was timed to derail Culinary's efforts, and ordered the company to negotiate a contract for Red Rock workers. Station appealed the decision, but it was upheld. A judge for the
National Labor Relations Board also ruled in April 2022 that the resort must negotiate with the union. However, contract discussions subsequently stalled. ==Features==