Jun. 18--Steve Wynn unveiled financial and construction plans for his biggest project ever Monday: a $1.83 billion megaresort that will include a man-made mountain and a Ferrari and Maserati dealership. 

In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Monday, the developer announced financing details for his Le Reve project, which will be built on the north Strip Desert Inn site he purchased two years ago. 

Construction is slated to begin in September with Le Reve's opening scheduled for March 2005. 

Casino industry experts were enthusiastic about Wynn's announcement, calling it a huge boost for the Las Vegas casino market. 

"Las Vegas depends on constant innovation, and Steve Wynn is the master," said casino industry bond analyst John Leupp of Credit Suisse First Boston, who noted that Las Vegas hasn't seen a new megaresort open since the Aladdin in August 2000. "This continues the evolution of the marketplace." 

Larry Klatzkin, a Jefferies & Co. casino bond analyst, concurred, pointing to past patterns of Strip growth that were spurred by Wynn's former Mirage Resorts properties. 

"This is the beginning of the next wave of Las Vegas," Klatzkin said. "This is a very big deal." 

Wynn's creation, which will feature an eight-story, man-made mountain enclosing a three-acre lake in front of the property, will be the most expensive casino resort ever built, topping the $1.6 billion Bellagio he built while at the helm of Mirage Resorts. 

The new hotel-casino will have 2,701 rooms, Wynn's private art collection and several private gambling areas. 

Leupp predicts Wynn will use the private casino salons to take dead aim at MGM Mirage's two-thirds control of the Strip's $500 million annual baccarat win. 

MGM Mirage President and Chief Financial Officer Jim Murren said his company, which bought Wynn's Mirage Resorts in May 2000, is ready for the challenge, citing the company's mix of properties, restaurants and entertainment as powerful weapons in its competitive arsenal. 

"Any time a creative mind is matched with capital, great things can happen," Murren said. "Steve is a creative mind, and time has proven that good new properties expand the market. But it would be absurd to think that we'll lose lots of customers to any new competitor. He'll do well. We'll do better." 

Wynn's plans for Le Reve also include an on-site, full-service Ferrari and Maserati dealership, a joining of ultra-exclusive brands that some experts said would make an ideal combination. 

"That's taking retail to a whole new level," Leupp said. "But that's what Wynn does. He imagines the unimaginable." 

To finance the project, Wynn's company, Wynn Resorts Ltd., notified the SEC that it intends to sell as much as $408.3 million worth of stock to the public in an initial public offering. 

In addition to the IPO, Deutsche Bank Securities; Bear, Stearns & Co.; and Banc of America Securities will lead Le Reve's financing consortium, which will provide $1 billion in bank loans, made up of a $750 million revolving loan and a $250 million secondary loan, that Wynn can draw on as he builds the megaresort, the SEC filing said. 

Other financing would come from a $350 million second mortgage and a $150 million loan on furniture, fixtures and equipment. Terms of the loan for furnishings and equipment have yet to be finalized. 

Wynn Resorts doesn't expect to begin borrowing the $1 billion until late 2003. 

Industry experts, however, said the $1 billion is easily the biggest single-property bank construction loan made to a U.S. casino, topping the $630 million credit line arranged by owners Boyd Gaming Corp. and MGM Mirage to build the Borgata in Atlantic City. 

"He is the only guy who could do a deal as large as this," Leupp said. "His ability to develop resorts is unparalleled." 

Another $941.1 million, representing cash and the Desert Inn property itself, has been invested in Wynn Resorts by Wynn and his Japanese partner, Kazuo Okada, although their exact ownership stakes after the initial public offering were not disclosed in the filing. 

Okada, majority owner of Japan-based pachinko manufacturer Aruze Corp. and owner of Las Vegas-based slot maker Universal Distributing, owns 47.4 percent of the company's stock now, with Wynn owning almost all of the remainder. 

Nevada gaming regulators are investigating a proposed transfer of Universal assets to Aruze, and have questioned whether that deal would be ethical. 

The filing noted that Wynn, Okada and their corporate entities have agreed that Wynn can buy Okada's share of the company if Nevada gaming regulators object to Okada's participation in the project. 

Wynn is out of the country this week. He said he was unable to comment on plans for Le Reve or the Wynn Resorts' offering until he gets the OK from the SEC, citing the commission's "quiet time" rule following an IPO filing. 

The filing noted that property executives plan to apply the "Wynn brand" to Le Reve to create a must-visit destination, rather than applying an artificial theme to the property. 

"We believe that the property, rather than a theme, will be the attraction, and, therefore, will have more lasting appeal to customers," the filing explained. 

Wynn said in April that he had changed his mind about offering public ownership in his company, noting that gaming stock prices were high and that he needed public shares to offer stock options to property executives. 

He had said after buying the Desert Inn site that he wanted to retain private ownership of the 218-acre complex, in part, because of his dislike for the short-term, bottom-line driven mindset of the country's equity markets. 

Wynn had previously estimated Le Reve's cost at $1.63 billion. The commission filing itemized a new $1.83 billion figure, including $1.38 billion in construction costs, $318.5 million for Desert Inn property and buildings, and $121.2 million to finance slot machines, furniture and equipment. 

Wynn Resorts anticipates spending an additional $390.9 million for pre-opening costs and interest expenses. 

Marnell Corrao Associates will be Le Reve's builder and general contractor. The company built Bellagio, Treasure Island and The Mirage for Wynn, and also built New York-New York. 

Wynn's company will apply to the Nasdaq stock market to have its shares trade under the symbol "WYNN." The 60-year-old had earlier hoped to get the symbol "W." 

The number and price of shares to be sold in the public offering will be included in a future filing, the document noted. 

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