Guest Blogger, Larry Robbins, Uncle Fester Productions (Las Vegas)
Massive is what one calls this one: MGM and Boyd Gaming are working on not mega-casinos but mini cities. Work has started on City Center by MGM. You can view a model where they have started the project between the Bellagio and Monte Carlo Hotels. Plans call for a main casino and hotels, shopping, and other features. Boyd Gaming will close the Stardust in November their own version of the same but also featuring, if I recall, about 1 million or so feet of convention center and meeting space. Harrah’s is also about to announce a massive “city center type” project that will be between all they own from the Venetian to the Aladdin with the razing of the Imperial Palace and other properties.
Speaking of meeting space, the Sands Expo will start adding another 1.5 or more million square feet of convention and meeting space across the street from the Sands. When finished, it will again make the Sands the largest privately held convention facility in the world. These are just some of the many trends the city’s direction is going…not so much “themed” casinos anymore but mini-cities and condo projects, some of which will have gotten off the ground, some that will not because there is just not enough labor or due to costs and have been put on hold.
In other news, Splash, the first “hip-hop” type show dating back to 1989, closed at the Rivera.
Related Topics: LDI
