Allegiant Launches Nonstop Grand Rapids – Las Vegas Flights

Currently, travelers in Grand Rapids wanting Las Vegas flights need to change planes, but as of May 1, that all changes: Allegiant Air announced it will launch twice-weekly non-stop Grand Rapids-Las Vegas flights.

To peark travelers' interest, the discount airline is offering one-way introductory rates as low as $99, exclusive of taxes and fees.

To land this discount airfare, book and buy no later than Feb. 18, and complete the trip by July 31. For the lowest discount airfare, purchase your ticket at www.allegiantair.com.

Allegiant’s 150-seat MD-80s will make the Grand Rapids – Las Vegas run Mondays and Fridays.

Good news for travelers in Grand Rapids: you won’t have to run around as much at Grand Rapid’s Gerald R. Ford International Airport, now that a new, curb-front passenger drop-off and pick-up area has opened.

http://news.cheapflights.com/airlines/2009/02/allegiant-launches-nonstop-grand-rapids-las-vegas-flights.html

UPDATE 2-Wynn Resorts cutting salaries, bonuses to save jobs

By Deena Beasley

LOS ANGELES, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Casino operator Wynn Resorts Inc (WYNN.O) said on Tuesday it would cut the wages of its salaried workers in Las Vegas and reduce work weeks for its full-time hourly employees to avoid cutting jobs.

"In effect, everybody makes a little bit less money, but everyone keeps their job," Chairman and Chief Executive Steven Wynn said on a conference call with analysts and investors. "We don't want anybody on unemployment here."

Competitors like MGM Mirage (MGM.N), Las Vegas Sands Corp (LVS.N) and Harrah's Entertainment [HAMLEH.UL] have been laying off workers as recession-weary consumers and businesses cut back on extras like travel and gambling.

Wynn, which recently opened a second casino on the Las Vegas Strip, said it would eliminate 2009 bonuses and suspend its program of matching 401-K retirement plan contributions.

Wynn expects to save $75 million to $100 million annually.

In December, the company opened the $2.3 billion, 2,000-room Encore, which is adjacent to Wynn Las Vegas, the company's 3-year-old luxury casino hotel.

"We spent a ton of money in November, December and January getting this place off the ground," Wynn said. "These expenses occurred, of course, at a time when the economy of America, and Las Vegas in particular, was softening."

http://uk.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUKN0354442320090204

Report: Statewide Casino Profits Down 68%

By Brian K. Miller

LAS VEGAS-Casino industry net income tumbled by 68% statewide and 57% on the Las Vegas Strip during the 12-month period ended June 30, 2008, according to a fiscal 2007 report released Friday by the state Gaming Control Board. The report covers all casinos statewide that grossed at least $1 million in gaming revenue, which in this case totaled 266 properties, including 40 on the Las Vegas Strip. The net income figure is computed before federal taxes and extraordinary expenses.

The national economic decline officials began in January 2008, mid-way through fiscal 2007. Control Board senior research analyst Frank Streshley reports that total revenue fell only 1% but general and administrative costs rose 16%, the latter attributable at least in part to increased interest expense related to private equity buyouts and resort expansions as well as increased discounting in the second half of the fiscal year. Streshley was not available Tuesday afternoon for comment.

Statewide, net income fell 68.6% to $721 million. On the Las Vegas Strip, net income fell 57.3% to $709.3 million.

Slot machines accounted for 67.6% of statewide revenue, which totaled approximately $12 billion. Table games plus bingo and keno accounted for more of the remainder, 28.8%.

On the Strip, slot machines accounted for 53.9% of revenue, while food brought in 25.8% of the total and hotel rooms brought in 14.7% of the total. Bar sales accounted for 5.2% of revenue.

Casino net income in Downtown Las Vegas fell 54.2% to $30.8 million. Casino net income in Laughlin fell 51.3% to $49.8 million. Casino net income on the Boulder Strip was negative at $6.1 million. Casino net income for the remainder of Clark County, which is home to 54 casinos including those in Mesquite and North Las Vegas, fell 235.9% to $146.2 million.

Net income data wasn't immediately available for year-to-date fiscal 2008. Gaming win, the amount gamblers lose in casinos, for that period was $4.67 billion statewide, a 12.9% decline from the same 2007 period. On the Strip gaming win fiscal year-to-date was $2.45 billion, down 14.2%. The Boulder Strip and Laughlin markets are off 14.6% and 11.6%, respectively. What to wear in Las Vegas

http://www.globest.com/news/1330_1330/lasvegas/176421-1.html

Where to Watch Super Bowl in Vegas

By Jimmy Boyd

If you are heading out to Sin City for the big game then a question you might be asking is where to watch the Super Bowl in Las Vegas. This will be one of the busier weekends in the city so make sure you get a plan established early. It doesn’t matter if you are going to be rooting for the Arizona Cardinals or the Pittsburgh Steelers, we will help you find the hot spots so you can make this Super Bowl one that you will never forget.

The first thing that most visitors think of are the sportsbooks on the Strip and why wouldn’t you. Go there on most days and you will see wall to wall televisions with sports tickers and best of all, the betting counter. However, on Super Bowl Sunday these places are going to be packed full of people, and the action is going to be intense at the counters after every quarter as people chase their losses or try to double up their winnings. Some people don’t mind this kind of atmosphere and if you don’t then we recommend you hit up either the Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, or New York New York. New York New York has the ESPN Zone which is always a favorite for when the guys and I head out to Vegas. It’s a great sports bar/restaurant that bombards you with the sports entertainment that I crave on a daily basis. The Mandalay Bay has 17 mega screens, seats over 300 people, and is a favorite of ours as well. If you are of a finer taste then the Bellagio has leather seats, classy cocktail service, and personal screens. Of course, most of these sportsbooks and hotels are going to be throwing VIP parties with free booze and excellent food, but you’ll have to score an invite to get through the ropes.

So you want a little lady action with your football? No problem as there are plenty of gentleman’s clubs that will be showing the game on Sunday. Some of our favorites are Scores, which has 500 international showgirls on two different levels. This place has over 25,000 square feet of sports and chics to get you going. They also offer a big game party package with a free limo from the strip, free food, and an open bar during the game. What a better way to spend the commercial breaks than with a hot blonde on your lap. There is also Sapphire Las Vegas, known as the world’s largest gentlemen’s club. You can get halftime dollar dances and buckets of beer for their special.

As for myself, I’ll end up watching the game with some buddies at my house. We throw a small Super Bowl party every year to celebrate the end of another great year of NFL betting. But if you are heading to Las Vegas then I hope this guide gives you some assistance on where to head.

Want to win with your Super Bowl betting? Then take a look at the Super Bowl picks provided by our experts! Nobody spends more time breaking down the Super Bowl odds than they do, which is why their NFL picks have hit at such a high rate all season long!

http://www.locksmithsportspicks.com/where-to-watch-super-bowl-in-vegas/

In bad times, Vegas casinos know when to hold 'em

By Oskar Garcia

LAS VEGAS—Major gambling companies' ledgers have told the same, sinking story for a year: Fewer people are visiting casinos, their trips are getting shorter and they're not gambling as much.

Casino construction has slowed or halted from one end of the Las Vegas Strip to the other, more than a dozen projects across the U.S. and abroad have been modified or dropped, and more than 40,000 new rooms in Las Vegas planned by some of the industry's biggest players are on hold.

Among other bids to entice customers in the lagging economy, casinos across the country also have slashed room rates. But executives are heralding bigger changes than two-for-one deals on rooms as a decade of rapid revenue growth based on physical expansion and easy credit has stopped short.

Industry leaders are following the widespread layoffs, debt reduction and other cost cutting of recent months with calls for innovation and a back-to-basics approach that focuses on delivering a quality at good prices.

Most casino markets in the United States already are saturated, said Jonathan Halkyard, chief financial officer for Harrah's Entertainment Inc., and operators have to start thinking beyond their next construction project while the economy retrenches, he said.

MGM Mirage Inc. chief executive Jim Murren said he's seeing small signs that travelers are opening up to Las Vegas again, but not enough to predict when a recovery might happen.

"We have a consumer that is not confident, that has been scared, and has every reason to be scared," said Murren, whose company has more casinos on the Las Vegas Strip than any other.

The world's four largest casino operators—MGM Mirage, Harrah's, Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Wynn Resorts Ltd., all based in Las Vegas—are preparing to play the hands they have. There are no new plans afoot for new flourishes like the multimillion-dollar volcanoes or fountains that already grace the Strip or for expensive new clubs or hotels built substantially on credit.

"The executives' optimism is shaking," said David Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Gambling revenue for commercial casinos across the U.S. dropped $1.1 billion, or 3.6 percent, to $30.2 billion in the first 11 months of 2008 compared with the same period in 2007, according to the American Gaming Association. Many states saw much more dramatic drops, except Pennsylvania, where casino gambling began only in 2007. The figures include only private gambling operations and not, for example, casinos owned by Indian tribes, which also have seen revenue tumble and some of which have cut staff and other costs in response.

In Macau, a Chinese enclave hailed as the next Las Vegas, American casino companies have been cutting table games and slot machines to cope with tightened Chinese visa rules and the recession, said gambling analyst Celeste Mellet Brown of Morgan Stanley Research. Revenue fell 2 percent for the fourth quarter in Macau, Brown said.

Visitor volume in Las Vegas declined 3.8 percent for the first 11 months of 2008 compared with 2007—meaning 1 million fewer people showed up to gamble, shop and dine out—and revenue here dropped 9.3 percent, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

Wynn Resorts was the only operator among the four largest that saw growth between the first three quarters of 2007 and the same period in 2008: Its net income rose 92 percent to $369.8 million from $192.7 million.

Las Vegas Sands and Harrah's each lost money during the first nine months of 2008, while MGM Mirage's profit plunged. Sands lost $52.2 million from January through September 2008, after earning $76.8 million for same three quarters in 2007. Harrah's lost $415.1 million in the period in 2008 after earning $667.2 million in 2007.

MGM Mirage earned $292.7 million, down nearly 59 percent from $712.21 in the period in 2007, creating some uncertainty, especially in Las Vegas. Murren said he told 2,700 casino managers during two meetings last week that he didn't know if his company would trim more workers—it has laid off 3,200 since October 2007—or sell other casinos. It recently sold the Treasure Island for $775 million. He also told the managers MGM Mirage may sell noncore assets, including two airplanes and nearly 300 acres of land in Nevada and Atlantic City, N.J., he told The Associated Press.

"If the market doesn't grow, it's going to be a market share discussion," Murren said in an interview.

The company must stay its course by finishing CityCenter, its $8.6 billion project on the Strip, he said. But, instead of borrowing more and spending more, the company is exploring a half-dozen deals around the world in which it will lend out its name and expertise, he said.

"We have vastly under-leveraged brands," Murren said. "Who does not know Bellagio, and yet there's only one Bellagio? And MGM is one of the most recognized brands in the world—a lot of people still think we make movies—and how do you not try to leverage that?"

That sentiment is reverberating through the industry.

"Here's an idea: How about innovation? I mean if you look at the slot machine, it's basically the same as it was 75 years ago," said Halkyard, the CFO at Harrah's, the world's largest gambling company by revenue.

"There has been a shocking lack of innovation around our core product in this industry when compared to virtually any other consumer entertainment product over decades," Halkyard told the AP.

Last week, the privately held company—which owns or manages 50 casinos in six countries, including 20,000 rooms in Las Vegas alone—said it would wait for demand to pick up before it finishes more than 600 new rooms at its flagship Caesars Palace on the Strip. Harrah's has been restructuring its debt and in November withdrew a proposal made with partners to manage a $535 million state-owned casino in Kansas.

Instead, Halkyard said the company is experimenting with ideas like sending guests same-day specials at shows, restaurants and clubs by text message.

"Once people are here, it is fierce competition for their attention," Halkyard said.

Sands' president and chief operating officer, William Weidner, said at a conference this month that his company's strategy is not changing much, however, in the hope that it can take quick advantage when the economy rebounds.

"But again, we are very mindful of the degree of difficulty," Weidner said. "We're very mindful of how difficult '09 is going to be, and we're focused on operating through '09 as we get into '10."

Sands is working to finish developments on time and on budget, he said.

Anthony Marnell III, chairman and CEO of the $1 billion M Resort, Spa and Casino to open in March south of the main resort corridor in Las Vegas, said times may have changed forever.

"Two years ago, you didn't have to differentiate yourself—you could just build a nice, big, brand new building and put a good product out there, and you could charge just about what you wanted for it, and people would pay it and keep coming back for more," Marnell said.

Marnell said fewer consumers will tolerate $15 martinis, $50 filets and $2,000 booths in nightclubs.

"The masses ... they're done with it," Marnell said. "They are going to stay retracted and conscious of their dollars for a long time."

Billionaire Steve Wynn's resorts—including the Wynn Las Vegas, Wynn Macau and Encore in Las Vegas—cater to customers used to expensive drinks. But the Wynn CEO said casino operators run smoothest when they plan prudently.

"There's nothing up our sleeves here—this is just common sense," he told the AP when Wynn opened Encore in December in Las Vegas. He expects to open a $700 million Encore resort in Macau by the end of this year.

"Whether you're talking about the capital structure of the company (or) the way the employees are treated, all that results in the guests being able to trust us to be the same this month and next month," he said. "If we can do a good job opening week, when everything is on trial, then sure as hell we're going to be dandy six months from now."

http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_11504772?nclick_check=1

Top-10 free attractions in Las Vegas

By Gary Trask

LAS VEGAS – When you're on vacation, it's a foregone conclusion that you are going to do things differently than you would while you're at home – especially if your place of choice is Las Vegas. Sin City presents a visitor plenty of options to spend their time. In addition to gambling, shows and restaurants there are also a fair share of tourist attractions.

Now, don't get me wrong. I am not one of these people that would suggest you spend your vacation acting and looking like a tourist the entire time. In fact, I'm usually the last person who would suggest any kind of guided tour or a visit to a museum that is going to eat up any valuable vacation time. But in Las Vegas, there are certain attractions that you can visit almost by accident. They're in convenient spots, they won't take up a lot of your time and – best of all – they're free.

So, with those conditions firmly in place, we present Casino City's Top-10 Free Las Vegas Attractions. If you're methodical enough there's no reason why you can't hit all ten the next time you visit the Strip.

10. 'Welcome to Las Vegas' sign
Much like the famous "Hollywood" sign that sits in the hills of Los Angeles, the "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign is a world famous landmark that you have seen hundreds of times online, in magazines or on TV. So while you're in town, why not seek it out and get a picture of everyone in your group standing there like dorks in front of it?

There's even a new parking lot for the sign that is designed to improve pedestrian safety. At the very least, a trip to the south end of the strip where the sign resides will give you the perfect excuse to visit Mandalay Bay, one of the most underrated hotels in Las Vegas.

9. Wynn Conservatory
Sure, you may not be into floral displays, but this won't take long to see and it is indeed a thing of beauty. The conservatory is conveniently located just inside the main entrance of Wynn Las Vegas so it's not like you have to search and find it. It's open 24 hours – although its exquisiteness is accentuated during the day as the sun shines down – and the display changes on a regular basis. And like the Las Vegas sign suggestion above, you can really make this trip worth your while by spending some time in the Wynn Sports & Race Book – one of the best on the Strip – or by making your way over to the stunning new Encore Las Vegas resort that just opened in December. Trust me, you won't be disappointed.

8. Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
If you have even the slightest appreciation for music, a trip off the main strip to one of the hippest venues that Vegas offers is a must. The casino is virtually a museum with actual memorabilia from many of music's past and present legends (e.g. leather jackets from Aerosmith, a guitar from Jimi Hendrix). There is usually a big-name concert on the docket at the 1800-seat concert-hall, the pool is spectacular and just a few months ago the Hard Rock opened one of the coolest poker lounges you'll ever experience. Not to mention the voguish Body English nightclub that is classic Vegas all the way. Do yourself a favor and block off at least one night of your trip and spend it here.

7. The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace
If you've never been to Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, you simply must visit this classic Vegas landmark the next time you're in town. The best way to lure the other people in your group – particularly if they're women – is to tell them about the Forum Shops. With 160 specialty stores and restaurants, this is a great spot for everyone to enjoy. It is designed to look like an Italian street scene and there are two separate free shows at each of the mall, complete statutes that come to life and a laser show. There are also plenty of great vistas to sit down and enjoy a cocktail, which comes in handy if the wife decides to disappear with your credit card. Kids and adults alike will enjoy this spot and if you happen to be in town during the summer, it's a great place to escape the 100-degree heat for a while.

6. Treasure Island Pirate Show
As cheesy as some of the items on this list may be, the truth is that you won't be able to walk by them if they come alive as you stroll down the Strip. That's especially true for the new show outside Treasure Island called "Sirens," a pirate battle in Buccaneers Bay that features female performers swinging around in skimpy pirate garb. The two ships fire fake cannons at each other that explode in the air. The show is free and takes place outside the hotel six times a day beginning at 4 p.m., weather permitting. Get your video camera ready. The kids at home will love it.

5. Mirage Volcano
If it's good enough for the kin of Evel Knievel, it's good enough for me. That's right, in case you missed it, Robbie Knievel, the 46-year-old son of the late daredevil, helped ring in the New Year at The Mirage Hotel-Casino on New Year's Eve by staging a 200-foot jump over the volcano, which just recently went through a $25-million redesign. The volcano erupts every hour on the hour from dusk until 11 p.m. on a daily basis. The flame-shooting show lasts three to five minutes and one of the new features of the volcano is the accompanying soundtrack that was produced by Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart and Indian musician Zakir Hussain.

4. Bellagio Fountains
Every half hour it happens. And when it does, most of the people in the vicinity simply stop in their tracks. Simply put, the water fountain show outside the lavish Bellagio is a Las Vegas icon. The show is a choreographed performance set to lights and music. The fountains sit in a nine-acre man-made lake that cost $50 million to build. And the best place to watch the show is…

3. Eiffel Tower restaurant at Paris
The Eiffel Tower restaurant is located on the 11th floor of the Eiffel Tower replica at Paris. Guests are whisked up to the restaurant level by an all-glass elevator located inside the scenic Paris casino. Once you step inside the romantic, dimly lit restaurant you will find a stunning panoramic view of the Las Vegas Strip. This is an upscale experience (no shorts allowed) but even if you can't fit a full dinner into the budget, take 30 minutes from your evening and sit at the bar and have one drink. It is, by far, the best vantage point to watch the Bellagio fountains.

2. MGM Grand Lion Habitat
If you're the type of person who always seems to land on Discovery while surfing the TV channels in your living room, you'll love the MGM Grand Lion Habitat. You're simply not going to get any closer to the king of the jungle than you are here, where only one and a half inches of glass separate you and the playful, 500-pound lions. The lions are in the habitat two at the time, but there are more than 30 different ones that make it their home in six-hour stints. When they are not in the habitat, the lions spend their time on an 8.5-acre ranch 12 miles outside the Strip. The habitat is open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., but be sure to time your visit so you can see the human workers go in the habitat and play fetch with the lions as if they were Golden Retrievers. Also, if you need a souvenir for a young cub back home, you'll find plenty of decent options in the Lion Habitat gift shop.

1. Fremont Street Experience
Jump in a cab and put a little "old school" into your next trip to Vegas and check out Fremont Street. This is where Las Vegas saw its first paved street, first gaming license, first elevator and first traffic light. Today it is home to a $70-million, seven-block, open-air pedestrian mall that was built in 1995. There's live entertainment, more than 60 festive bars and restaurants and, of course, the 90-foot high Viva Vision canopy that features 12 million lights and 550,000 watts of concert-quality sound for its incredible light and laser show.

The shows take place every night on the hour from dusk to midnight. And if you're a poker fan, you simply have to stop by the historic Binion's Gambling Hall and check out the newly revamped poker room and poker Hall of fame. Playing a few hours here is akin to an avid golfer playing a round at Pebble Beach.

http://www.casinocitytimes.com/news/article.cfm?contentID=176708

Famed Las Vegas Topless Revue Shuts Down

By Jill Marino

Over the years, Las Vegas has taken on the mantra of “out with the old, in with the new.” It has shuttered many of its vintage hotels like the Stardust and the Frontier. Now, one of its famed shows is closing.

Topless revue Les Folies Bergere will shut down after playing at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino for 49 years, the Associated Press reports.

Executives for the casino said on Thursday that the show will play its final performance on March 28. What will replace the show at the hotel remains unclear.

The show, Jubilee!, which plays at Bally’s, will be the only showgirl revue left on the strip after Bergere closes.

These types of shows have fallen off the radar with tourists through the years, as over-the-top shows by Cirque du Soleil now dominate in Las Vegas.

Begere came to Vegas from Paris in 1959. It opened when Lou Walters was the entertainment director at the Tropicana. He is the father of journalist Barbara Walters.

Reasons for the show closing weren’t explained. Ron Thacker, president of the Tropicana, said in a statement, the casino “is extremely proud to have been part of such an iconic Las Vegas production.”

http://www.thecelebritycafe.com/features/23523.html

Las Vegas is No. 1 destination for movers

By Steve Green

"CityCenter to hire 12,000 employees."

"Metro Police to hire 400 officers."

With headlines like those, why wouldn’t people move from other states to find work in Las Vegas?

In fact, it appears they are, according to a report issued today by Relocation.com, a New York company that helps people move locally or from state to state; either on their own or by hiring companies that can pack their goods, move their goods, or both.

"Despite the housing market struggles and a downturn in gaming revenue, Las Vegas still beckons to people looking for a fresh start, according to an analysis of moving requests from 2008 by Relocation.com," the company said Wednesday. "The data revealed that on a per-capita basis for cities with more than 1 million people, Las Vegas retained its spot as the No. 1 destination for people looking to make a long distance state-to-state move."

The company said that of the moving requests involving Las Vegas it handled in 2008, 52 percent were looking to move to Las Vegas, while 48 percent were requests to leave Las Vegas.

Today’s numbers do reflect the weakening in the Las Vegas economy.

Relocation.com said that in 2007, 56 percent of the requests involving Las Vegas were from people looking to move to Las Vegas, while 44 percent were moves out of Las Vegas.

The relocation company said that although the recession has spared no area of the country, cities in the West and South continue to appeal to people relocating, whether to take a job or to find a new place to live with more solid economic opportunities. Las Vegas was followed in popularity by Denver; Charlotte, N.C.; the Phoenix area; Portland, Ore.; Seattle; Orlando, Fla.; Washington, D.C.; Atlanta and the Tampa Bay/St. Petersburg, Fla., area.

The Relocation.com numbers differ from those of U-Haul. The Las Vegas Sun reported that U-Haul found that in 2007, outbound U-Haul rentals barely outpaced those arriving in Las Vegas. In 2008, the number of outbound rentals was 1 percent higher than rentals arriving in Las Vegas, the Sun reported.

It’s unclear which set of numbers best reflects the state of the Las Vegas economy.

One thing’s likely: With 100,000 people expected to apply for the 12,000 CityCenter jobs, there will be plenty of U-Hauls leaving town as the unsuccessful applicants learn the bad news.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/jan/14/report-people-still-moving-las-vegas/

Mega Project in Las Vegas

Just about everyone knows the terrible doldrums the construction industry is in throughout the country. There is a real housing bust that everyone hopes will be bottoming out soon and that a rebound is not far away.

We've also read a great deal about how the gambling industry, originally thought to be recession-proof, is hurting these days. Las Vegas is down considerably and bargains on food, beverages, rooms and other attractions are once again available in Glitter City.

So, we have new construction down severely, and we have every business along the Las Vegas strip fighting for every single customer. It's surprising that a simply huge construction project continues on schedule in that city. How big? Well, it's the largest privately financed project in United States history.

Today we'll take a little time to write about the size and scope of this ambitious project. Clearly the mega-investors like the long-term outlook for Las Vegas and they want to be positioned to take advantage of the revenues that will come streaming in when the economy improves.

The project we're talking about is called CityCenter and it's a $9.1 billion extravaganza by MGM Mirage which is located on a 76-acre parcel of property between the Bellagio and Monte Carlo hotel/casino complexes.

This project is so huge construction workers are doing shifts 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and they are targeting being open by the end of this year. The payroll is $3,125,000 a day and so far the project has recorded over 24 million man-hours of work.

This incredible project is broken down into three segments. Here's what's in each of them:

Block A - Aria tower, a 600-foot-tall, 4,000-room hotel; Aria podium, a 2.8 million-square-foot low-rise building containing casino space, restaurants, spa and fitness center, pool and a 1,750 stall parking garage; a convention center with 655,000 square feet of space on multi levels and large meeting areas; an 1,800-seat, 170,000-square foot showroom featuring Cirque du Soleil show; and an 11-story, 7,200-stall parking garage.

Block B - A 55,000-square-foot central plant housing all mechanical and electrical services for this vast property; a new elevated road structure, pedestrian walkway and elevator providing access from Harmon Avenue throughout CityCenter.

Block C - Mandarin Oriental, a 47-story tower with a 400-room hotel and 227 condominiums; Harmon Hotel, Spa 7 Residences, a 47-story tower with 400-room hotel and 240 condominiums (Managers just announced this week that this project will be scaled down to eliminate the condominium units. It will be about half as tall as originally planned. But, this is the only cutback in the size of the project.); a 10-story, 2,500-space self-parking garage and elevated pedestrian bridge over Las Vegas Boulevard and Harmon Avenue; The Crystals, a 645,000-square-foot retail district with shops, entertainment, restaurants and people mover station; Veer Towers, two 37-story condominium towers with 670 residences; a 630,000-square-foot, 1,200-space below-grade parking garage under retail residences with a loading dock, utility tunnel and taxi staging area.

Now, that is an incredible project, and remember all of this is going on at the same time.

An article by Tony Zilla in the Las Vegas Business Press detailed all of this information and more.

Here's a few statistics:

The construction cost - $9.1 billion.

Condominium and hotel units - 2,650.

Project size - 18.67 million square feet.

Buildings - seven.

Job site - 76 acres.

Peak work force (in February of 2009) - 12,000.

New employees hired per month - 100

Average salary per construction worker - $80,000.

Golf carts and buggies on site - 800.

Tower cranes - 14.

Ground cranes - 30.

Forklifts - 150.

Man lifts - 50.

Total concrete used so far - 1.8 million cubic yards.

It's hard to imagine a construction project that large and it's even more incredible that it's going forward in these extremely difficult financial times.

Just getting to work is a nightmare for the building trades people. They have to arrive an hour or more before their shift begins just to combat the gridlock along the narrow single-lane access road to the site. The first project to be completed was a 7,200-stall parking garage used for employees and also for employees of the nearby Bellagio Hotel and Casino.

Although MGM Mirage, Inc., is the lead partner in this mega project, it probably won't come as a surprise to our readers to know that Dubai World, subsidiary of Infinity World Development Corp., is the other major financier.

That company just happens to be the investment holding company owned by the government of the Persian Gulf emirate of Dubai. The chairman of the board is Sultan Bin Sulayem.

So, while we purchase more Middle East oil we also give them the resources to make huge financial commitments in the United States like this one in Las Vegas and many, many others.

Long term this is going to be a money machine, but we wouldn't doubt a bit that at least initially it will be a money pit.

http://www.wdtimes.com/articles/2009/01/10/in_times_square/times01.txt