Why Wynn’s plans for third hotel tower on Strip could be in jeopardy

Wynn Resorts’ plans for a possible third tower on a vacant piece of property could be in jeopardy.

The company is asking Clark County for a five-year extension on its previously approved plans for a 1,110-room hotel tower on 38 acres just north of Fashion Show mall and across Las Vegas Boulevard from the main resort. As currently proposed, the new project would be 3.4 million square feet, according to documents submitted to Clark County.

A Wynn spokesperson said in a Thursday email that an extension would “allow us the appropriate amount of time to consider the best development for that parcel. Once we have our programming of the parcel settled, we’ll be in a position to communicate a timeline.”

The Clark County Building Department staff has recommended denying the extension, but the matter probably won’t be taken up by the county zoning commission until April.

The development plans were originally approved in 2015 as part of the now abandoned Alon Las Vegas project. Wynn announced it was acquiring the lot in 2017 for $336 million, but since then, the company has not committed to a specific timeline for developing the property.

Clark County staff are recommending denial of the extension because the original approval is 8 years old and no building permits or technical studies for the project have been submitted for review, county documents said. Also, some building regulations have changed since plans were first approved.

Wynn requested a building height study in 2022 from the Federal Aviation Administration that found a 640-foot tower could be built on the lot, but a Wynn spokesperson said that request was done to maintain “future development rights” for the vacant lot.

County documents indicate that Wynn is requesting an extension because the COVID-19 pandemic delayed several of its development projects and the company wants to focus on its other projects before developing the empty Strip lot.

Wynn is developing a $3.9 billion, 1,500-unit resort called the Wynn Al Marjan Island in the United Arab Emirates that could open in 2027. Other projects include the expansion of Encore Boston Harbor, entertainment and other development at Wynn Macau and Wynn Palace and the company’s license bid for Wynn New York City.

Contact Sean Hemmersmeier at shemmersmeier@reviewjournal.com. Follow @seanhemmers34 on X.