One year away: Stevens says Circa project will be ‘a great attraction for all of Las Vegas’

Tuesday, December 10, 2019 12:00 PM
  • Howard Stutz, CDC Gaming

Derek Stevens is confident his new Circa Resort and Casino project in downtown Las Vegas will open as scheduled roughly a year from now.

He’s just not ready to announce a date.

During the tour of the project Monday morning, Stevens said rooms and suites within the 458-foot-tall structure will be put on the market in April for occupancy starting in January 2021. He’s holding back dates in December 2020 for now, but is committed to opening before next year ends.

“What we’re doing here is creating a great attraction not just for downtown, but all of Las Vegas,” said Stevens, who owns three other downtown properties: D Las Vegas, the Golden Gate and the outdoor Downtown Las Vegas Events Center.

Derek Stevens stands above the Circa pool area

The media showing marked the halfway point of the 22-month construction timeline and featured stops at three key areas – the fifth floor roof-top pool deck and amphitheater, the three-level race and sports books that Stevens says will be the world’s largest, where 1,000 patrons can enjoy the action at once, and a view of “Garage Mahal,” a high-tech transportation hub for downtown that will offer space for ride-sharing services as well as just under 1,000 parking spaces.

Stevens has not divulged a budget for the privately financed Circa, the first ground-up resort development in downtown since 1980. He touted Circa as one of several new developments in the Las Vegas tourist market, which includes the $2 billion, 65,000-seat Allegiant Stadium, a $1.2 billion expansion of the Las Vegas Convention Center, and the $4.3 billion Resorts World Las Vegas on the Strip.

Circa’s opening sometime in December will follow the unveiling of the stadium, which is the new home for the relocated Las Vegas Raiders.

“What you’re seeing in construction now is similar to what we saw a couple of decades ago,” Stevens said, recalling the openings of Las Vegas Strip resorts in 1900s and 2000s.

The space for Circa’s six swimming pools and the 14-million-pixel television screen is under construction.

“Those projects brought a lot of people to Las Vegas,” Stevens said. “I think you will see the same thing with these projects.”

Circa has been on Stevens’ drawing table for more than four years. It will have the largest hotel tower north of the Las Vegas Strip, other than the Stratosphere, includes 1.25 million square feet of integrated resort amenities, and occupies an entire downtown city block, which previously housed the Las Vegas Club, Mermaids casino and Girls of Glitter Gulch strip club.

Construction began in February, and the first part of the foundation was poured in April. The site has some 600 construction workers daily in multiple shifts and the hotel tower has added one floor a day every week since early October.

“It goes back to the assemblage of the real estate, the demolition of the Las Vegas Club and Glitter Gulch. We weren’t sure we knew what we would be running into,” Stevens said.

Circa’s two-level, 7,000-square foot casino will have 1,350 slot machines and 48 table games. Plans are being made to announce the property’s restaurant line-up starting in January. Circa will have the longest outdoor bar in downtown Las Vegas,  running the length of the property underneath the Fremont Street Experience canopy.

Stevens said Circa’s seventh floor in the hotel tower’s would be “shelled out” for future development, possibly additional hotel rooms or suites.

“We’re going to give it 12 months and then decide,” Stevens said, adding Circa will open with 512 rooms and suites out of a planned 777 units.

Pool to be open year-round

A tourist snaps a photo of the Circa construction wall along Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas

The outdoor pool and amphitheater will be open 365 days a year. Stevens says it’s intended to be a centerpiece of the development, with the potential to attract approximately 4,000 guests daily. The 5,000-square-foot space will be multi-tiered and include six pools and private cabanas of various sizes, including a “super cabana” can hold up to 50 guests.

The pool and amphitheater’s focal point will be a massive, 14-million-pixel television screen for watching sporting events or other entertainment. The venue will include its own food & beverage concept, along with music from DJs and other special guests.

“We’re not shy about saying we want this pool to be a reason people say they are coming to the property or downtown,” Stevens said.

Sportsbook to have three-level television

No matter where a guest is standing inside the Circa casino, Stevens said, they’ll be able to glimpse the sportsbook’s giant 78-million-pixel high definition television screen. While reluctant to offer a precise measurement of square footage, Stevens clearly wants the sportsbook to stand out from the competition in Las Vegas.

This year he launched Circa Sports, with retail books inside the Golden Gate and D Las Vegas and a mobile application.

Vegas Stats and Information Network (VSiN) will have a production studio in the Circa Sportsbook.

Parking garage located across Main Street

Stevens acquired land owned by Boyd Gaming Corp., for the nine-level parking garage.

“It allowed us to change the design of Circa so we didn’t have to incorporate the parking with the building,” Stevens said, adding that a pedestrian bridge will connect the garage with Circa above Main Street.

The first floor will be dedicated to ride-share services.

More than just a new hotel

Stevens said the goal with Circa is to offer various amenities, such as watching sports and entertainment, in order to attract guests from throughout Las Vegas.

“It’s not just about the hotel rooms,” Stevens said. “I’m proud to deliver something completely new to the Las Vegas experience and can’t wait to open our doors a year from now for everyone to enjoy it.”

Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgaming.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.