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Silverton Hopes Renovation, Outdoors Store, Boost Business

LAS VEGAS -- Silverton executives are hoping a $30 million outdoor megastore and $70 million in casino and hotel renovations will transform the south Las Vegas property into a regional dynamo.

Owner Ed Roski and general manager Craig Cavileer plan to create a mixed-use development on the Silverton site, using a powerful national retailer to add energy to the property southwest of the intersection of Blue Diamond Road and Interstate 15.

Construction is slated to begin in the next few weeks on a 130,000-square-foot Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World that will anchor the $100 million first phase of the property's transformation, Cavileer said this week.

The store is scheduled to open in November 2004.

"We knew we had to do something with the site to differentiate ourselves," said Cavileer, who worked in Roski's retail development business before taking control of the property almost five years ago. "We understand retail, and the ideas that drive mixed-use developments are things that drive people."

The Silverton team knew retailers would be interested in their site, situated amid the south valley's explosive growth.

"They see this as a regional mall site," Cavileer said of major national retailers. "But we wanted a retailer to define the property, a retailer compelling enough to lure a portion of tourists to make a trip."

Casino expert Ray Brown, president of Shonkwiler Marcoux advertising company, said: "It's the most underserved quadrant for retail and gaming in the valley."

Instead of a more traditional big-box outlet, property bosses tabbed Bass Pro Shops.

The rustic, lodge-style outdoor theme of Bass Pro Shops meant the Silverton wouldn't have to spend as much updating its mountain-town Western theme inherited from the property's pre-1997 Boomtown days.

More importantly, it also gives the property a proven people-drawing retail outlet, Cavileer said, noting that each of Bass Pro Shops' 19 U.S. outlets draws more than 3 million visitors per year.

Many of those visitors drive hundreds of miles to visit the store, and the average store visit lasts 4 1/2 hours, Cavileer said.

"I don't care if 38 million people don't want to go," he said, estimating the city's annual tourist visitation count a bit ahead of last year's 35.1 million number. "I only need a small percentage of those tourists."

And market research suggests the store will thrive on Las Vegas and regional drive-in business alone, he said.

The store spends $200 per square foot on its stores, much more than almost any other retailer, he said. Bass Pro Shops sell almost every outdoor product, including hunting, fishing, camping, golf and boating products.

As the Bass Pro Shops is being built the Silverton will continue its own transformation. An additional 25,000 square feet will be added to the casino floor, allowing the property to add 500 new slot machines, bringing its total to 1,500.

Cavileer expects the slot floor to be 50 percent coinless by year's end, with all the devices to be ticket-in, ticket-out models by November.

A room-renovation project will continue, as will its restaurant renovations. The property's old cafe was closed to make way for a steakhouse, the buffet will be redone and the new 24-hour Sundance cafe just opened.

The property's exteriors and interiors will be redesigned to complement the mountain lodge architecture of Bass Pro Shops, and a seamless corridor connecting the store and the casino will be built featuring giant aquariums.

Cavileer said the 100-acre Silverton has plenty of space available for future development.

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