COLOSSAL doesn’t begin to describe CityCenter, that $8.5 billion complex opening on Las Vegas Boulevard next week, which looks to shake up the Strip at a time when the last thing it needs is more competition.
Even more colossal is the nearly no-gambling gamble CityCenter is taking. Only 150,000 square feet — less than 1 percent — of the project’s 18 million square feet will be reserved for gaming. According to Alan Feldman, senior vice president of public affairs for MGM Mirage, CityCenter might end up generating 80 percent of its revenue from non-gaming sources.
This means that developers MGM Mirage and Dubai World are counting on the nearly 6,000 hotel rooms, more than 2,000 condos, more than 20 restaurants (including the first Vegas eateries from the world-renowned Pierre Gagnaire and Masa Takayama), three spas, 500,000-square-foot shopping center, more than 300,000 square feet of meeting and convention space and 1,840-seat Cirque du Soleil theater to bring in the masses.
Of course, Vegas probably doesn’t need more hotel rooms, residences, dining, spas, shopping, meeting space or theaters. Not right now, anyway. Even though Vegas visitor volume was actually up 4.3 percent in September 2009 compared to September 2008, there are already about 141,000 hotel/motel rooms here. (New York City still has less than 80,000 rooms, to give you a little perspective.) The year-to-date occupancy through September was 82.8 percent, meaning that there are close to 25,000 empty rooms on any given night.
But ready or not, CityCenter is coming, a reminder of the boom times when development deals flowed like shots of Patron Platinum at Vegas nightclubs. (Oh yes, the Light Group, whose Vegas hotspots are as ubiquitous as Manhattan Duane Reades is opening a 25,000-square-foot, two-level CityCenter club with a dance floor that will double as a stage.)
We recently took a hard-hat tour of CityCenter and left impressed, if not a little overwhelmed.
Aria, the only tower with a casino, makes sense as a classy, 21st-century extension of MGM Mirage’s flagship Bellagio. CityCenter’s modern architecture and use of both indoor and outdoor space should attract design geeks. There’s dramatic art all over, and we loved the “pocket park,” which transports you to what feels like a major urban center far, far away from Vegas. Plus, the Crystals shopping complex, designed by Daniel Libeskind, has an open, airy layout unlike those other Vegas malls that are built to trick you into walking around in circles.
“CityCenter is going to appeal to people who are very sensitive to design and environments,” Feldman says. “There are still people who are Las Vegas rejectors.”
Hopefully for MGM Mirage, these “Vegas rejectors” won’t just limit themselves to CityCenter — the company’s neighboring resorts could certainly use the business. (Feldman notes that Vegas visitors typically end up spending time at three different resorts while in town.) Meanwhile, you can already book a room on property — at Aria — for as little as $149 per night.
Here’s a closer look at CityCenter, which will occupy the space roughly between Bellagio and Monte Carlo, on the west side of Las Vegas Boulevard at the corner of Harmon Avenue.
1) Vdara, opening Dec. 1 The first piece of CityCenter to open offers 1,495 hotel suites plus easy access to Bellagio via an indoor walkway. There is of course a spa (two levels) — there are spas throughout CityCenter — but what’s most notable is that Martin Heierling, the chef behind Bellagio’s Sensi, is running the Karim Rashid-designed Silk Road restaurant and the in-room dining. His contemporary food at Bellagio has European and Asian flourishes, with bento boxes that run the gamut from Indian to Japanese to Italian, and his “trans-ethnic” cuisine at Vdara should be tasty.
2) Crystals, opening Dec. 3 Really, does Vegas need more Louis Vuitton and Hermes stores, another Todd English eatery and two more Wolfgang Puck restaurants? Let’s find out! Eva Longoria Parker’s Beso restaurant (does she eat?) and Eve lounge could add some new flash. And this mall, unlike the Palazzo, Wynn or Bellagio shops, is flooded with natural light — no running around trying to find the exits here.
3) Mandarin Oriental, opening Dec. 4 French superstar chef Pierre Gagnaire’s 23rd-floor Twist is one of the city’s most anticipated restaurant openings of the year. There’s also a 23rd-floor bar with stellar skyline views. With 392 hotel rooms priced at more than $500, 227 residences and two lap pools in the shape of long blades, this building should feel exclusive. Well, mostly — the outdoor area of the third-level meeting space unfortunately faces a McDonald’s and the down-market Hawaiian Marketplace. As the Mandarin’s director of communications herself noted, there’s a “great view of a CVS,” too.
4) Aria, opening Dec. 16 Decorated in a sophisticated neutral palette, unlike so many over-the-top Vegas resorts, this spot actually looks modern and design-y. The casino floor/poker room is elegant, and with 4,004 rooms and around 300,000 square feet of meeting space, this is the big boy on the CityCenter block. Bellagio fans should feel at home; the Light Group, responsible for popular spots all over MGM Mirage properties, has the Union restaurant that opens onto the casino floor (like the Light Group’s Fix restaurant does at Bellagio). It also operates the Haze nightclub and has plans for pool parties. And just like at Bellagio, there’s a Jean-Georges steakhouse and restaurants from Michael Mina and the Le Cirque team. These familiar destinations are smartly located in a corridor deep in Aria because it’s clear that people will seek them out. More prime real estate, near the lobby, is given to newcomer Masa Tayakama’s Bar Masa and Shaboo, two adjacent restaurants from the peerless Japanese chef. There’s also shopping not unlike what you’d find at Bellagio and the adjacent Cirque Du Soleil theater with a recently announced Elvis show that seems like a no-brainer.
5) Veer and Harmon, TBD The Veer doesn’t have hotel rooms, so its success will depend entirely on buyers snatching up the 335 condos here (closings start in January). It towers above Crystals, so here’s hoping it doesn’t sit largely empty and remind shoppers looking for $425 scarves that there’s still a recession. The Harmon, the Light Group’s first hotel, was also supposed to have condos. But then the credit crunch happened and the condos were out. The Harmon resort is now slated for a “late 2010” opening. See you next year!