NEC casino project prepares for go ahead

A TASTE of Las Vegas could be coming to Solihull within three years after NEC bosses unveiled the next stage in plans to build a £120m casino and hotel ‘resort’.

‘Resorts World @ The NEC’ is expected to create around 1,000 jobs once completed and will include a four-star hotel, casino, spa, bars, restaurants and conference facilities.

A launch event was held to mark the start of the public consultation on the 55,000 sq metre scheme for which the NEC and its partner, Genting Casinos UK, hope to submit a planning application next month.

Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council is also currently considering the application for a large casino licence, a decision on which is expected in May as well.

If given the green light on both applications, development work would start this summer with a planned opening date of late 2013 or early 2014.

This latest step marks the next stage in a long-running project, after Genting Casinos UK was originally appointed the preferred bidder on the seven-floor development in May 2008, following a 12-month tender process.

It will be located next to the Crowne Plaza Hotel and the LG Arena, create 1,750 jobs during the construction process and attract an estimated 650,000 visitors in its first year.

Resorts World is the second phase of a wider masterplan, called ‘Destination NEC’, aimed at delivering various leisure and business facilities to work alongside the exhibition spaces and the LG Arena concert venue, which was phase one.

NEC Group chief executive Paul Thandi, right, said he hoped it would keep exhibition visitors on site instead of losing them to nearby locales once events had ended
“This is one of the most exciting developments in the NEC’s history,” he said.

“We’ve opened the ICC and the NIA but now we need to make sure our offering can complete globally.

“We must continue to invest in our business. It’s important that we have an actual entertainment complex here and not just a casino.

“There are not many £120m developments in the UK right now. I know the difficulty of creating jobs in the West Midlands and our partners are going to add to our economic impact.”