Irving City Council approves destination resort after Las Vegas Sands Corporation drops casino from plans
After another meeting that stretched into the early morning hours, the Irving City Council approved rezoning land for a destination resort, but not a casino.
During the Thursday night meeting, the Las Vegas Sands Corporation requested that the casino portion of the proposal be removed from the plans.
Almost 200 people signed up to speak during the public comment portion of the meeting, of which a vast majority were opposed to the project. The meeting wrapped up just before 2 a.m. Friday.
Now that the casino part of the development is gone, the Sands Corporation said it likely won't invest the billions of dollars it had previously promised, nor would it create as many full-time jobs.
However, Sands does expect casino gambling to eventually become legal in Texas — it's just not sure when that will happen.
Heated debate with Irving residents
During Monday's meeting, the Irving Planning and Zoning Commission voted 5 to 4 to recommend rezoning acres of land to allow a destination resort that might include casino-style gambling.
That recommendation then went to the city council, which had been expected to make the final decision on rezoning Thursday night.
When the commissioners voted yes on the first of two amendments Monday, people started yelling and booing at them. The vote on the second amendment didn't happen until 2:30 a.m. Tuesday because of all the public comments.
"We do not live in Las Vegas because we do not want to live in Las Vegas," an Irving resident said on Monday.
The original proposal included a chance for an arena, convention center, spas, retail stores, restaurants and more, located near the former site of Texas Stadium. The land is owned by the Sands Corporation and the Adelson family, who also hold a majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks.
The Sands Corporation said Thursday during the work session that it doesn't make sense for them financially to build a destination resort without casino gaming.
"To build, it has to make sense, and without gaming, it changes plans," Boekenheide said. "I expect to still build quality hotels with or without gaming, but wouldn't expect a destination resort without gaming."
Gambling is currently illegal in Texas, meaning lawmakers would need to change state law before voters could weigh in on a constitutional amendment to legalize it. The corporation said it expects casino gaming to eventually become legal in Texas.
The Sands Corporation said even if all that happened, the project could still be five to seven years away.
