Well, never is a long time and we learned early on never to say never.
But you’re right: Before construction was halted in August 2008, the $5 billion Echelon Place metaresort was supposed to open this year. The construction stoppage was initially announced for 16 months, though 2009, but then the cranes were removed and last November, Boyd Gaming’s CEO stated that Echelon wouldn’t be restarted for another "three to five years."
For now, the site houses steel-girder framing for a central construction plant and four buildings that reached nine stories before work stopped. According to a local construction expert quoted in an article in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Las Vegas’ dry climate "will let these structures stand for another ten years -- five guaranteed -- before decay requires remedial action or tear-down."
Certainly, Boyd will have to reapply for permits when it restarts construction, at which time building inspectors will determine what remediation efforts are necessary to bring the skeletons back to life.
We don’t know the exact details of the expiration of permits and their progress clauses, but we do know that Desert Blue, the hulk of the Wyndham timeshare project we can see from our offices, halted construction in February 2009 and was recently granted a three-year construction extension by the Clark County Zoning Board. So we assume that when Boyd announced its three- to five-year plan five months ago, it had some sort of cooperation from the county.
Also, the R-J’s construction experts commented on the St. Regis Residences, 400 luxury condos originally scheduled to open this month at the Venetian. When work stopped in November 2008, 18 months of construction were left. In the meantime, Las Vegas Sands president Sheldon Adelson recently stated that he’s doubtful he'll ever again build on the Strip. "But the county won't let it just sit there forever," the R-J reported.
Meaning eventually, local officials will compel developers to finish or tear down their projects. Until then, we’ll all just have to live with eyesores.
