M Resort’s new tower could break ground in Q4

At the southern edge of the Las Vegas Valley, developers have packed the west Henderson area with warehouses, apartment complexes and other projects in recent years.

Now, the hotel-casino that anchored the area is set to grow, too.

M Resort operator Penn Entertainment aims to break ground on a second hotel tower at the Henderson property in the fourth quarter this year. The new 12-story building is slated to feature 375 rooms and about 15,000 square feet of additional ballroom space, according to the company.

Penn announced the $206 million expansion project last fall.

Hussain Mahrous, vice president and general manager of the M, told the Review-Journal last month that the 390-room resort is expanding because the area around it is growing.

He also cited Southern Nevada’s strong tourism industry coming out of the pandemic and the M’s sports industry sponsorships, saying those have served the property well amid Las Vegas’ growth as a sports town.

Located at the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and St. Rose Parkway, the M bills itself as the official team headquarters hotel of both the Raiders, whose football practice facility is just a few miles from the resort, and the Henderson Silver Knights minor-league hockey team.

The property’s food-and-beverage roster includes Raiders Tavern &Grill and Knight Time Hockey Bar. Mahrous said the Raiders stay there before home games and that minor-league hockey teams stay there as well.

The M was in the works before Las Vegas’ frenzied real estate market crashed well over a decade ago, but ultimately, the resort opened in March 2009 amid the worst recession in decades.

Its original developer, Anthony Marnell III, has said it cost around $750 million to develop the resort. Penn, formerly known as Penn National Gaming, bought the debt on the project in 2010 for $230.5 million and took control of the resort the following year.

Marnell stayed on as president but left the M in 2015. Last fall, Penn announced that Marnell Architecture, which is under his family’s corporate umbrella, is designing the M’s second tower.

Marnell, chairman and CEO of Las Vegas-based Marnell Companies, might also build a new resort nearby.

In 2021, the Henderson City Council approved plans to sell him nearly 9 acres of city-owned land across from the M. Under the terms of the sale, Marnell has several years to close the purchase, albeit at an escalating price the longer it takes.

The sales price would range from roughly $4.3 million to $6.2 million, city documents show.

Last month, Marnell told the Review-Journal he will close the purchase but didn’t know when. He also didn’t have a timeframe for when he might start construction on a resort there.

Plans have called for Marnell to build a hotel-casino and invest at least $250 million in the project.

Contact Eli Segall at esegall@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342. Follow @eli_segall on Twitter.