Las Vegas Metro Development News

[desertpunk]

[-Corey-]

Nice, wish I were there.

[Mudhen419]

I guess you were right SteveO.... I still think its a dumb reason though to why MGM grand would change the entrance

[CrazyAboutCities]

I like the way MGM Grand changed its entrance. It looks much better and nicer than before. Old one was outdated and cheesy.

[Jim856796]

I hate to be an anatomist, but technically, the original entrance area of the MGM Grand resort looked like The lion's mouth wasn't open and pedestrians were actually entering through where the lion's chest area should be.

Thanks to Flickr user GraphiChris for providing this evidence.
image hosted on flickr

[desertpunk]

2012 Consumer Electronics Show

The trade group that puts on the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas says it has hit a record number of exhibitors this year, as the industry continues its rebound after the recession. The show is already the largest trade show in the Americas. It opened Tuesday and is expected to draw more than 140,000 attendees. The Consumer Electronics Association says the show has more than 3,100 exhibitors, up from a pre-show estimate of 2,800-plus. The show usually has just over 2,700 exhibitors, but dipped to 2,500 in 2010. AP

[skyscraperhighrise]

Originally Posted by desertpunk

2012 Consumer Electronics Show

The trade group that puts on the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas says it has hit a record number of exhibitors this year, as the industry continues its rebound after the recession. The show is already the largest trade show in the Americas. It opened Tuesday and is expected to draw more than 140,000 attendees. The Consumer Electronics Association says the show has more than 3,100 exhibitors, up from a pre-show estimate of 2,800-plus. The show usually has just over 2,700 exhibitors, but dipped to 2,500 in 2010. AP

I Saw this on spike 4 days ago.

[Nino_B]

Article several months old, but covers the new construction at the oldest hotel/casino in Vegas; the Golden Gate (circa 1906) on Freemont Street.

http://www.vegasinc.com/news/2011/se...n-gate-expand/


Downtown seems to be seeing a resurgance while the strip continues to struggle. One exception to this is that some preconstruction on the Linq appears to be moving forward.

THE LINQ http://www.vegasinc.com/news/2011/au...strip-project/

http://www.vegaschatter.com/main/2

[-Corey-]

Finally!! im gonna be the first one to get on top of that Wheel :P.

[skyscraperhighrise]

I Hope that Las Vegas is my next spot.

[Fwesa]

Interesting

[desertpunk]

Las Vegas Inc

Observation wheel, plaza project under way on the Strip
Monday
30 January 2012



Construction cranes remain idle at the stalled Echelon and Fontainebleau resorts on the Las Vegas Strip — so local residents may find it refreshing to see some building work under way down the street at The Linq.

Caesars Entertainment Corp.’s $550 million Linq project, on the Strip between the Flamingo and Imperial Palace, is a pedestrian shopping, dining and entertainment venue that will include a 550-foot-tall observation wheel.

Greg Miller, Caesars’ U.S. senior vice president of development, said in an interview Thursday that work on The Linq started in November and a good amount of progress had been made.

"We’re thrilled to be building the project," he said. "We look at it as a positive for Las Vegas."

To make way for The Linq, tennis courts at the Flamingo were demolished along with 90 "Capri" rooms at the Imperial Palace, some of the oldest rooms at that resort, Miller said.

Soon, work will begin on the foundations and platform for the observation wheel — named The Las Vegas High Roller, the components of which are being made at factories outside of Las Vegas.

Work also will soon be visible on the two-dozen-plus buildings that will make up the 200,000-square-foot retail, dining and entertainment portion of the attraction. In all, the buildings will house 32 tenants.

Most of the buildings will be two stories tall, though some will be three, Miller said. "Each building will have its own personality," he said.

[...]

[desertpunk]

Investors unearth records in alleged Fontainebleau cost overrun coverup

Investors suing over losses at the stalled $2.9 billion Fontainebleau Las Vegas casino-resort say they’ve uncovered startling internal documents detailing how its developer allegedly covered up cost overruns and other problems at the project.

Among them, according to documents filed by attorneys last week in a Clark County District Court lawsuit, are internal memos recovered from Turnberry West Construction Inc., Fontainebleau’s general contractor. One memo details how Fontainebleau executives, including owner Jeff Soffer, allegedly directed Turnberry West to manipulate cost estimates so the executives could hide cost overruns and meet the project’s budget. Up to $450 million in allegedly hidden cost overruns are at the heart of the lawsuit.

Investors holding $700 million of Fontainebleau’s debt are the lawsuit plaintiffs. They say Fontainebleau never would have been allowed to borrow that money if the lenders would have been aware of the cost overruns. That’s because cost overruns would have been a signal Fontainebleau was on track to fail and the lenders wouldn’t be repaid.

The numbers had to be manipulated, the investors charge in the lawsuit, because Fontainebleau as designed couldn’t be built with its construction budget — and this fact allegedly was hid from lenders who financed the project.

-------

Work on the 3,815-room hotel-casino was halted in 2009, Soffer put it into bankruptcy protection and some 3,000 construction workers lost their jobs. Investor Carl Icahn eventually bought the unfinished project out of bankruptcy with plans to hold on to it until the economy turns around.

[desertpunk]

Ls Vegas Review-Journal

Fortunes may be shifting for downtown's Lady Luck



By Jennifer Robison
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

Posted: Feb. 11, 2012 | 1:59 a.m.


The Lady Luck's fortunes may be changing at last.

Fifth Street Gaming has big plans for the downtown Las Vegas hotel, shuttered since 2006. And earlier this week, those plans moved closer to reality as the Nevada Gaming Control Board recommended approval of a license for Fifth Street to operate the hotel-casino at Third Street and Ogden Avenue.

If the Nevada Gaming Commission accepts the board's recommendation later this month, the company's principals will move forward on $100 million in upgrades. When it opens in the first or second quarter of 2013, the property -- rechristened Downtown Grand Hotel & Casino -- will have 650 rooms, as many as 650 slot machines and about 30 table games, complete with a new design aesthetic and more than a few temptations for locals, said Fifth Street CEO Seth Schorr.

Most significantly, Schorr added, it'll be the first new hotel downtown since Main Street Station opened 30 years ago."This is not just a renovation. It's not just new carpet or new paint," he said. "The former Lady Luck was completely gutted. It's as new a hotel as you can have without demolishing the building."

David G. Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, hesitated to describe Downtown Grand as the urban core's first new property in three decades, noting improvements at the Plaza, which reopened in August after $35 million in upgrades to its rooms and food-and-beverage offerings. Also, El Cortez owner Kenny Epstein has spent nearly five years and $32 million improving the property, including converting a neighboring motel into the upscale Cabana Suites in 2009. And the Golden Nugget opened its $150 million, 500-room Rush tower in 2009.


[...]

[desertpunk]

Conceptual design unveiled for Henderson Space and Science Center

The Henderson Space and Science Center, borne of an idea brainstormed years ago by former Henderson Councilman Jack Clark, continues to edge closer to reality with the unveiling Friday of a new conceptual design and model.

Still standing as the biggest obstacle to the center’s eventual opening: raising the bulk of the $63 million projected cost to design and construct the building and acquire and install exhibits.

The center’s board of directors, however, remains confident in its goal.

“We have made a lot of progress when it comes to preparing to go forward with the kind of fundraising plan that is essential to the success of our project,” said James Gibson, board president and former Henderson mayor.

If all goes as planned, the center should be open in the summer of 2015, officials said.

The state-of-the-art science museum will sit on five acres next to the proposed $1.5 million Union Village complex near U.S. 95 and Galleria Drive and, as architect Windom Kimsey described the conceptual design, will focus on green technologies and sustainability.

[desertpunk]

Vegas Inc

Chinese company agrees to finance proposed Henderson arena
Friday
10 February 2012


A Chinese company and its banks have tentatively agreed to finance a $650 million arena in Henderson, the arena developer announced Friday.

Whether the Silver State Arena will actually get off the ground, however, is an open question, despite Friday’s announcement by developer Chris Milam’s companies, Las Vegas National Sports Center and International Development Management.

It’s an open question because of the many hurdles Milam needs to overcome and questions about the arena project.

Milam’s companies said China Security & Surveillance Technology Inc. of Shenzhen, China, and its Chinese banking partners signed a “memorandum of understanding” providing for full financing of the 17,500-seat arena.

Friday’s announcement covered only the indoor arena portion of what has been billed as potentially becoming a $1.3 billion project that would include a separate open-air stadium. The proposed site is on Bureau of Land Management property south of the M Resort.

China Security & Surveillance, in a regulatory filing, said it had $1.4 billion in assets as of June 30.

[...]

[desertpunk]

Retail Real Estate News

EHB to Develop 700,000 SF Mall in West Las Vegas



Jan 20, 2012 11:04 AM, Staff Reports

EHB Cos. will develop Las Vegas Renaissance, a 700,000-sq.-ft. enclosed mall in West Las Vegas. EHB plans to break ground for the project in 2013 and open the property in time for the 2015 holiday shopping season.

Las Vegas Renaissance will be designed using European architecture style, inspired by the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in Milan, Italy. It will feature canopied pedestrian corridors with arched glass ceilings and massive glass domes at corridor junctures.

Las Vegas Renaissance will be located next to Tivoli Village, another EHB development. “As we continue to build upon Tivoli Village’s unique offerings, we look to the future of West Las Vegas as a prominent retail destination,” said EHB Chairman and CEO Yohan Lowie in a statement.

“Renaissance will provide the community with a distinctive enclosed lifestyle shopping center away from the bustling Strip. The combination of Tivoli Village, Renaissance and Boca Park retail areas will define this corridor as the shopping, entertainment, restaurant and office destination of West Las Vegas.”

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[skyscraperhighrise]

Las Vegas is on a comeback trail.

[CrazyAboutCities]

Nice mall!

What is the current status of proposed indoor ski resort?

[-Corey-]

Really? I've never heard of any indoor sky resort, that would be awesome!!