“It could never have worked if we had done it in phases. We could never have created what I wanted, which is this urbanization that is going to be so vitally important and makes it so different from another resort. If we’d just built, say, the [Aria] casino-hotel and had raw land around it, it would be a beautiful resort. But that’s what it would be. It would not be a building block in a modern city, and that’s what it is now because when you stand at the foot of Aria and look up, yes, you see the beautiful Cesar Pelli building but as you rotate from left to right, you then see the KPF-designed Mandarin Oriental, the Murphy Jahn[-designed] Veer Towers, Daniel Liebeskind’s crazy roof design on Crystals, you see Harmon [Hotel] peeking through the Veer Towers and you see Rafael Viñoly’s stunningly elegant Vdara.” — MGM Mirage CEO James Murren on why it was imperative to build CityCenter all at once (and arguably bit off considerably more than MGM or its lead contractor could chew in the process) and not in a phased-in manner.
-
Recent Posts
- You can’t fix stupid; Good-bad news on the bayou
- If you can’t beat ’em, cheat ’em; Fun & games
- Pennsylvania soggy; Epic fail in North Carolina
- Sibella scandal spreads; Supremes forestall Seminoles
- Atlantic City rebounds; Sibella dumped; NFL suspicions
- MGM limping back; Atlantic City follies; Wall Street Jottings
- On and off the radio
- MGM crippled; Illinois & Indiana report; Bally’s shaky in Chi
- MGM paralyzed; DraftKings debacle; Mount Airy wins
- Bally’s opens, Chicago yawns; MGM, tree murderers
Categories
@Stiffs_Georges
Error: Invalid or expired token.-
Archives
Recent Comments
- Alice Eskandari on Durango Station, slightly downsized
- David McKee on You can’t fix stupid; Good-bad news on the bayou
- American Gaming Guru on You can’t fix stupid; Good-bad news on the bayou
- Ray Lebowski on Sibella scandal spreads; Supremes forestall Seminoles
- David McKee on Sibella scandal spreads; Supremes forestall Seminoles
- Ray Lebowski on Sibella scandal spreads; Supremes forestall Seminoles
- David McKee on MGM crippled; Illinois & Indiana report; Bally’s shaky in Chi
- Paul Shanahan on MGM crippled; Illinois & Indiana report; Bally’s shaky in Chi
- ACGambler on MGM limping back; Atlantic City follies; Wall Street Jottings
- Bob on Bally’s opens, Chicago yawns; MGM, tree murderers
Views
- Sibella scandal spreads; Supremes forestall Seminoles - 56,275 views
- You can’t fix stupid; Good-bad news on the bayou - 56,177 views
- If you can’t beat ’em, cheat ’em; Fun & games - 54,611 views
- Pennsylvania soggy; Epic fail in North Carolina - 55,547 views
- Atlantic City rebounds; Sibella dumped; NFL suspicions - 55,527 views
- Profit vs. investment on the Strip - 1,055,332 views
- Lame nag; Frissora overpaid? - 578,437 views
- The evils of bingo; Wynn’s Aqueduct exit - 90,459 views
- That casino smell - 63,586 views
- Bally’s opens, Chicago yawns; MGM, tree murderers - 58,060 views
- MGM crippled; Illinois & Indiana report; Bally’s shaky in Chi - 57,642 views
- MGM paralyzed; DraftKings debacle; Mount Airy wins - 57,066 views
- MGM limping back; Atlantic City follies; Wall Street Jottings - 56,694 views
Blogroll
Admin.
So even wealthy people are delusional at times, very cool. So how long does Murren get to continue steering the boat if CC doesn’t turn into the chic urbanization hot spot he believes is needed and will ultimately be? I wonder someday if CC will be looked on as Murren’s folly, if it wasn’t for the fact that Las Vegas and Nevada to a degree is so dependent on the casino industry, I have to wonder if the media there wouldn’t be tearing this lunacy to shreds. I realize there are upstanding journalists such as yourself and others calling it like it is, but I’m still referencing the old line media types which still resonate a bit higher then the digital media.
City Center is a monument to a different era that ended with the 2008 economic crash, just like Rockefeller Center was a monument concieved in the Roaring Twenties but not built until the 1930’s — the last expression of the Art Deco era. The hopeful spin is that City Center will change and endure like Rockefeller Center. Unlike most new developments I’m not sure City Center will hit it’s stride until it ages a little and until the people it is targeting discover it. The question in my miind is Las Vegas, not City Center. New York was pronounced dead in several eras, especially the 1970’s. New York came back stronger than ever. Can Las Vegas endure this economic era? I think the answer depends on the health of the airline industry and international travel. It’s an even bet that I would put money on.
Does Murren realize that over 95% of the people who visit CC see it as a “beautiful resort” and not a “building block in a modern city.” Lots of people come to Vegas to see what’s new but no-one comes to see a building built by Cesar Pelli. The only NAME that remotely matters to the average tourist in Vegas is WYNN!!
casino revenue in the u.s. will be a long time in re-animating under the “change” administration.
traditionally lv and other gaming venues relied on visitor discretionary income. stuff like overtime. under the current administration, the jobs are being forced offshore, hence the burgeoning middle classes in asia. with close to 20% of the u.s. workforce un and under-employed, that walk around money is drying up. this before the promised “skyrocket” in consumer energy costs and the “free” health care program shortfalls kick in.
the upside is that those new, asian middle classes that enjoy our exported jobs are excellent, hungry customers. u.s. gaming revenues will be at best flat for some time. that while those asian venues will expand, no matter the gubmit imposed taxes there.
Howard, you write well, but how come you can’t spell “its”? In the phrase, “hit its stride” the possessive is conveyed by the OMISSION of the apostrophe. “It’s” is only used as a contraction for “it is”.
Sorry, but this is one extremely common error (it even appears in major newspapers and magazines, which presumably have been proofread by several people who ought to know better), and it drives me NUTS.
My reaction to Aria, when standing in the street and gazing up at its Elysian towers, is, “Wow, cool! I’m never going to set foot in this place, since they are no doubt gouging people on the price of everything to pay for this billion-dollar boondoggle!”
Ten years from now, City Center will be, as its sole remaining function, a terrific roosting place for the local birds (and bats). I look forward to it.
Gehrig, you’re describing a phenomenon that has its roots at least as far back as the Clinton administration (remember NAFTFA?) and has long been extolled in the works of Thomas “World is Flat” Friedman. High unemployment is a legacy of the previous administration (we had a hobo encampment kitty-corner from LVA during the waning months of Bush II), so it’s a gross oversimplification to pin a decades-long, bipartisan dismantling of America into a service- and consumption-oriented economic power onto the presidential equivalent of a relief pitcher who entered the game when it was already a blowout, with runners at every base. I respectfully submit that your analysis overlooks the eight innings already played.
Kevin: Thanks for the crisp explanation of the it’s/its matter which has plagued me most of my life. I’m guilty as charged and appreciate that you took the time to correct me even if you had been driven nuts at the time. I disagree about the ultimate fate of City Center if and only if Las Vegas, finds a somewhat altered new role in the world.