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A New Casino Could Be Coming to Henderson, Southern Nevada

Article by : Helen Dec 29, 2020

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Updated: Feb 3, 2023

Henderson, a city in the south of Nevada, is mulling over a deal with Marnell Gaming Management that would add one more casino resort to its map. The City Council’s intentions seem to be serious enough. On December 15, it approved Resolution No. 4416 that basically says just that: the city of Henderson officially wants to sell roughly 8.95 acres of land that belongs to the municipality to Marnell Gaming Management without any public bidding. The decision was unanimous, according to local news.

The property is located in West Henderson, east of Las Vegas Boulevard and north of St. Rose Parkway, with the M Resort, another Marnell’s project, just around the corner. And, what’s even more interesting, the city council fully acknowledged that should the deal take place, Marnell Gaming Management will get the land for less than its appraised value. It is estimated to be worth $6.5 million; yet, Henderson is willing to hand it over for around $4.3 million – just $0.2 million more than what it bought the property for in 2019.

The reason behind dropping the price a third below the land’s market value is simple: stimulating economic development – and state law permits such deals. Henderson wants the buyer company to open a new venue, which would lead to creating new jobs and generating more income for local authorities in the form of taxes.

The City Council unanimously approved the City’s intent to sell approximately 9 acres of land to Marnell. The purchase and sale agreement and development agreement will come before the City Council for approval at a future meeting.

So, it’s too early to pop champagne: there is a long road of negotiations ahead of Marnell Gaming Management and Henderson. As of now, it is still unclear what exactly Marnell would like to use the land for and what the city should expect to see there.

However, the company has already figured out how much it’s willing to invest in a new property: according to the City Council agenda, Marnell Gaming Management plans to spend around $250 million on developing the site.

As for the background of the company looking to develop a new property in Henderson, things aren’t exactly 100% crystal clear. The state business records show that Marnell Gaming Management LLC has the same business address listed as the one for Marnell Companies, and the two entities apparently have the same CEO – Anthony A. Marnell III. And, when Las Vegas Review-Journal tried to reach out to Marnell Companies to ask for a comment, the company representative didn’t return the call.

As it is put on the Marnell Companies official website, the company is in the business of “planning, designing, building, marketing and operating resort/casino properties.” It also claims to “have constructed over $8 billion of work”.

It’s worth noting that Marnell Companies itself does have an impressive portfolio showcased on its official website: its featured projects include the M Resort, Bellagio Las Vegas, Harrah’s Las Vegas, Wynn Las Vegas, and Park MGM. Marnell Companies keeps their plans for a potential new development project in Henderson under wraps as the company is yet to publish any press releases regarding it.