Genting Berhad, a Malaysia-based developer, has received preliminary approval from city officials to start construction on Resorts World Las Vegas, a $4 billion project that will include 3,000 hotel rooms, 3,500 slot machines and game tables within a 175,000-sf casino, 30 food and beverage outlets, and a 4,000-seat theater, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The website CardPlayer.com adds that the new resort will include a bowling alley, waterpark, and panda exhibit. The site reports that Genting’s interest in building this casino-resort could relate to financial difficulties its properties in Asia and Macau have had due to government crackdowns. KLAS-TV reports that the front façade of Resorts World Las Vegas will be designed to resemble a Chinese village.
Resorts World Las Vegas will be built on 87 acres at the north end of The Strip, for which Genting paid $350 million in 2013. That’s where Boyd Gaming’s unfinished Echelon development now sits, and where the Stardust casino operated until it closed in 2006. Genting’s plan is the use between 80% and 85% of the unfinished structure for the new casino-resort. The casino would be built in multiple stages over several years, with the first phase scheduled for completion sometime 2017.
Steelman Partners is the design architect for the project.
Vegas on a Roll?
Genting announced its plans at a time when Las Vegas is still trying to rebound from recession and broaden its appeal beyond gambling. Nevada’s Gaming Control Board reports that gaming revenue generated by casinos on the Las Vegas Strip dropped by 2.6% to $6.37 billion in 2014. However, sports wagering rose 11.8%.
The city welcomed a record 41 million visitors in 2014, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. It also hosted nearly 6,000 conventions and business meetings.
The incomplete, mothballed Echelon project in Las Vegas. Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri via Wikimedia Commons
Cox Communications is investing $10 million to upgrade the two-million-sf Las Vegas Convention Center with an additional 7,500 fiber terminations, and replacing its network equipment.
MGM is adding 350,000 sf to its 1.7-million-sf Mandalay Bay Convention Center, a renovation that should be completed early next year. MGM, which owns and operates about 27% of all the hotels in the city, saw its revenue per room jump by 8% last year.
“With more than $9 billion in recent and planned developments, we are poised to continue that growth and march toward our next goal of 45 million visitors in the coming years,” said Rossi Ralenkotter, president of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
The city is hoping that the new casino-resort will bring energy and customers to the north end of The Strip, where the old Fountainbleu structure has been empty for several years. The website VegasInc.com notes that this neighborhood is seeing signs of life, with SLS Las Vegas opening in the old Sahara casino-hotel building last August, and MGM building a concert venue that is scheduled to open in May. Australian billionaire James Packer last fall unveiled his plans to build a resort on the site of the former New Frontier.
Related Stories
| Jun 12, 2014
Austrian university develops 'inflatable' concrete dome method
Constructing a concrete dome is a costly process, but this may change soon. A team from the Vienna University of Technology has developed a method that allows concrete domes to form with the use of air and steel cables instead of expensive, timber supporting structures.
| May 29, 2014
7 cost-effective ways to make U.S. infrastructure more resilient
Moving critical elements to higher ground and designing for longer lifespans are just some of the ways cities and governments can make infrastructure more resilient to natural disasters and climate change, writes Richard Cavallaro, President of Skanska USA Civil.
| May 20, 2014
Kinetic Architecture: New book explores innovations in active façades
The book, co-authored by Arup's Russell Fortmeyer, illustrates the various ways architects, consultants, and engineers approach energy and comfort by manipulating air, water, and light through the layers of passive and active building envelope systems.
| May 19, 2014
What can architects learn from nature’s 3.8 billion years of experience?
In a new report, HOK and Biomimicry 3.8 partnered to study how lessons from the temperate broadleaf forest biome, which houses many of the world’s largest population centers, can inform the design of the built environment.
| May 13, 2014
19 industry groups team to promote resilient planning and building materials
The industry associations, with more than 700,000 members generating almost $1 trillion in GDP, have issued a joint statement on resilience, pushing design and building solutions for disaster mitigation.
| May 11, 2014
Final call for entries: 2014 Giants 300 survey
BD+C's 2014 Giants 300 survey forms are due Wednesday, May 21. Survey results will be published in our July 2014 issue. The annual Giants 300 Report ranks the top AEC firms in commercial construction, by revenue.
| May 9, 2014
It's official: Norman Foster-designed Harmon hotel and casino to be razed due to structural issues
Construction of the Las Vegas tower was halted in 2008 after experts discovered faulty steel beams in the structure. Now its owner, MGM, has received permission to demolish the building.
| Apr 29, 2014
USGBC launches real-time green building data dashboard
The online data visualization resource highlights green building data for each state and Washington, D.C.
| Apr 9, 2014
5 important trends shaping today’s hotel construction market
AEC firms, developers, and investors worldwide are bullish on hotels. Our hospitality Giants share what’s new in this fast-morphing sector.
| Apr 9, 2014
Steel decks: 11 tips for their proper use | BD+C
Building Teams have been using steel decks with proven success for 75 years. Building Design+Construction consulted with technical experts from the Steel Deck Institute and the deck manufacturing industry for their advice on how best to use steel decking.
