PENN Entertainment Inc., a flagship global multi-platform sports entertainment firm, officially will hold a groundbreaking ceremony for its 2nd hotel tower at M Resort, a $206 million project, at 2 PM PST on December 12th.

Groundbreaking ceremony:

After a brief presentation with dignitaries such as the whole Henderson City Council that consists of 5 members, several M Resort and PENN executives together with Michelle Romero, mayor of Henderson, and Michael Naft, commissioner from Clark County, turned over the “shovelful of dirt from a trough“ at the estimated site of the newest building.

After a several years, M Resorts will include extra space to fill once the aforementioned second hotel tower, which will consist of 384 rooms, is finished. However, beside expanding the capacity of the resort to 774 rooms, the latest hotel tower will involve updated amenities as well as extra meeting space.

Furthermore, the tower location will be just southeast of and connected to the already existing tower. Beside being linked to the existing tower that was inaugurated in 2009, the structures will also be linked below the ground. The primary reason for this is to enable continuity of fresh convention establishments below the resort.

Commenting on the new hotel and the groundbreaking ceremony in general, Hussain Mahrous, Vice President and General Manager of M Resort, said according to the Las Vegas Review Journal: “I expect that construction will begin on the site within 60 days and the tower would be completed and ready to open in 18 months. We are thrilled to be celebrating this day with our team members and key stakeholders. We look forward to hiring new team members and expanding the wonderful offerings that make M Resort a premier destination for visitors and convention attendees from across the country.”

On a related note, none of the already existing M public spaces will be influenced by the construction that has now started. In this regard, Mahrous added: “There may be a little construction noise on the property, but we won’t have to close anything. M frequently nears capacity on busy weekends in Las Vegas and having the additional capacity would make the resort even more vibrant when the new tower opens.”

The entire project is part of the company’s $850 million extension project which also includes PENN facilities in Ohio, Illinois and Nevada.

Taking advantage of sports in downtown Henderson:

M took advantage of the sport centered around Henderson. On that note, it bills itself as the “Official Team Headquarters Hotel of the Las Vegas Raiders,” and regularly inks alliances with its minor-league hockey team, Henderson Silver Knights, and the Foley Entertainment Group. In addition, the so-called “town crier” by Silver Knights kicked off the December 11 groundbreaking ceremony with a proclamation. This resort is located a mile away from the head office of the Raiders.

It is anticipated that additional local alliances will be revealed in the future.