Wynn Las Vegas Delays Tower Remodel Due to Tariffs

Posted on: May 6, 2025, 05:35h. 

Last updated on: May 6, 2025, 05:48h.

Corey Levitan Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas, Restaurants, Las Vegas Myths.
  • Wynn Resorts has delayed renovating its Encore tower
  • The $200 million project was scheduled to take place this summer

Wynn Resorts on Tuesday became the first major Las Vegas casino company to admit that tariffs have affected their plans.

The last major renovation of the Encore tower was performed in 2015. (Image: booking.com)

During the company’s first-quarter earnings call, Wynn Resorts CEO Craig Billings said that his company is postponing the $200 million renovation of its Encore tower, supposed to happen this summer, due to the added costs of tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.

“We had a number of projects in flight in the US, and while we have sourced for those projects presuming some tariff impact, the current tariff rates have driven us to delay about $375 million of cap-ex (capital expense) projects, including the Encore Tower remodel,” he told investors.

Many luxury hotel furnishings — such as custom furniture, lighting, and electronics — are manufactured in China due to cost and scale. The 145% tariff currently imposed by the US on Chinese imports significantly increases the costs of these items.

Food Tariffs Easier to Swallow

Billings said that the operational expenses affected by tariffs on imports into the US, mostly food and beverage costs, would be “low and entirely manageable.” (Food prices have risen 2.6% since the first of a series of tariffs went into effect in February, with fresh produce up 5.4%, affecting restaurant and hotel operating costs.)

“We are actively working through alternative sourcing for the most impactful items,” Billings said. “Once tariff rates have settled, we will thoroughly re-spec and resource the most severely affected items. While we’re staying nimble, the pace of change at the moment is just too significant to commit to revised timing on that cap-ex.”

Also during the earnings call, Billings reported revenue declines that missed Wall Street estimates: 1.8% in Las Vegas; 3.9% at Encore Boston Harbor; and 8.7% and 19.9% at Wynn Palace and Wynn Macau in Macau.

During MGM Resorts’ earnings call on April 29, 2025, executives said they did not foresee significant threats from the tariffs. Likewise on their April 29 earnings call, Caesars executives downplayed the immediate impact of tariffs on their operations, indicating that no major strategic shifts were planned in response.