LAS VEGAS -- Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE: BYD) today announced that the Company will more than double the number of hotel guest rooms at its South Coast Hotel and Casino now under construction in a dynamic growth area in the southern section of the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The expanded project, which also includes a spa and fitness center, will add approximately 700 hotel rooms and bring the hotel's room count to 1,350 rooms. The Company expects to start construction on the new hotel tower shortly and complete it soon after the opening of South Coast, which is anticipated in early 2006. The addition is expected to bring the property's total development cost to $600 million.
Michael Gaughan, Chief Executive Officer of the Coast Casinos division of Boyd Gaming, commented, "Demand for hotel rooms in Las Vegas has been very strong, as evidenced by the great success of our recent rooms expansion at The Orleans. The quality and array of amenities at South Coast is expected to generate strong guest room demand at our property. While our master plan for the property calls for three hotel towers to be phased in over time, the strong market conditions convinced us that the time for building the second hotel tower is now."
