Property and Equipment, net

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

Property and equipment, net consisted of the following (in thousands):


	December 31,
	2019		2018
Buildings and improvements	$	9,367,241	$	7,707,467
Land and improvements	1,246,679		1,141,032
Furniture, fixtures and equipment	2,932,483		2,288,370
Leasehold interests in land	—		313,516
Airplanes	110,623		110,623
Construction in progress	477,333		1,912,801
	14,134,359		13,473,809
Less: accumulated depreciation	(4,510,527)		(4,087,889)
	$	9,623,832	$	9,385,920

As of December 31, 2019, construction in progress consisted primarily of costs capitalized, including interest, for the construction of the additional meeting and convention space at Wynn Las Vegas. As of December 31, 2018, construction in progress consisted primarily of costs capitalized, including interest, for the construction of Encore Boston Harbor. On June 23, 2019, Encore Boston Harbor opened and its associated construction in progress balance was placed into service.

Depreciation expense for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017 was $602.9 million, $546.1 million, and $547.9 million, respectively.

Beginning January 1, 2019, leasehold interests in land, net of related accumulated amortization were reclassified to operating lease assets with the adoption of Topic 842.

Land Acquisition

During the first quarter of 2018, the Company acquired approximately 38 acres of land on the Las Vegas Strip directly across from Wynn Las Vegas for $336.2 million, approximately 16 acres of which are subject to a ground lease that expires in 2097. The Company expects to use this land for future development.

In accordance with asset acquisition accounting standards, the Company allocated the purchase price to the identifiable assets acquired based on the relative fair value of each component. As a result, the Company recorded $247.0 million of the purchase price as land and $89.1 million of the purchase price as a finite-lived intangible asset, which was reclassified to Operating lease assets upon the adoption of Topic 842 on January 1, 2019. For more information regarding the lease, see Note 15,"Leases."