Red Rock Resorts has postponed the planned opening of its $780 million Durango Casino and Resort by more than two weeks, saying portions of the southwest Las Vegas property would not be complete by the Nov. 20 announced opening.

The new opening date will be Dec. 5.

The delay was announced at the outset of the company’s third-quarter earnings conference call on Tuesday and came as a surprise to analysts.

Red Rock CFO Steven Cootey said the date was moved “to ensure a first-class opening of the property.”

Red Rock Resorts Vice Chairman Lorenzo Fertitta said “certain areas” of the resort that he termed as “critical to the opening” were finished later than anticipated. 

Fertitta did not say if the areas were restaurants or portions of the casino floor.

“We didn't feel like it gave us enough time to properly train our staff and our team members in the venues and be able to have the appropriate load-in days and then play days,” Fertitta said, describing pre-opening days for a casino resort. “The most important thing is that the level of service on the day that we opened is at the highest quality that it can be.”

Cootey said the delayed opening won’t lead to any additional costs that would cause the company to increase the budget beyond $780 million. 

The 201-room casino and resort has been under construction for almost 20 months on a 50-acre site near the 215 Beltway and South Durango Drive. Durango will be the only major casino within a 5-mile radius available to more than 250,000 adults in the area.

The 83,000-square-foot casino floor will house almost 2,300 slot machines, 63 table games and 15 dining establishments that include four full-service restaurants and a 25,000-square-foot food hall. The property will have 20,000 square feet of convention and meeting space and a resort pool area.

Red Rock is in the process of hiring the casino’s 1,700-person workforce. The company said in a statement that its Durango employees who were scheduled to start work on Nov. 20 would be paid salaries and tips beginning that day. 

Hotel guests with reservations between Nov. 20 and Dec. 5 at Durango will be given priority booking for future dates or offered to be rebooked at one of six other Station Casino properties in Las Vegas. Guests with restaurant reservations will be also contacted with an offer to rebook at another property or for a future date at a Durango restaurant.  

Updated at 4:27 p.m. on 11/7/2023 with comments from Red Rock executives.