The M Resort, Spa and Casino opened this weekend. I have been in Las Vegas long enough not to try to go opening night due to the heavy traffic and people filling the casino arm to arm. I did make it out there last night however and found it pretty impressive. While considered to be a "locals" casino, this $1 Billion property fits in well with the upper echelon of Las Vegas casinos. While it may be a little stressful for the casino management to open during these economic times, it is great to see a new project pulsing with activity.

While the hotel is small by Las Vegas standards at 390 rooms and the gaming floor is nowhere near as large many other hotels, the property should serve its area residents well, as well as traffic from California. At one time the property was expected to hire about 2,000 people. While this is not a huge percentage of the labor force, and some of the employees are probably backfill from other properties, it is a positive for 2009. Several more properties are expected to come online this year as the chart below depicts (give or take a 1,000 due to delivery schedules moving around). This does mean significant hiring and while it may be meaker than some earlier estimates, it should help the employment picture. This does not mean a huge demand cycle for housing until there is a degree of stable growth in employment (it will help limit excess supply of homes). Further, credit restrictions will probably limit migration flows to some degree. Nevertheless, there is not a lot going on in terms of large scale projects around the country, but there is here, and like the M Resort, its going to be very cool.

Source: Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.