CC by KK at XV

By Jeff Leatherock, guest contributor

CityCenter, the last and largest Las Vegas project by Las Vegas’ largest builder nears 15 years old. The concept probably started before 2006 and completion was a few years later. So, claiming 15 kinda fits in a lazy fashion.

Kirk Kerkorian was the most active and largest developer of Las Vegas casino properties in history. He liked to “go large”. His list of “largest” includes the International (currently Westgate) in 1969; the first MGM Grand (currently Bally’s) in 1973; the current MGM Grand in 1994, which were each the “largest hotel on earth” at the time of their construction. He then embarked on the “largest privately funded construction development in America” with “Project CityCenter” in the early 2000s. Kerkorian was in his 90s at the launch of CityCenter, so I think it is safe to say he never lacked for financial courage, vision or hope for the future.

CityCenter was planned for roughly 75 acres bounded by Las Vegas Boulevard on the east, I-15 on the west, Monte Carlo Hotel & Casino (now Park MGM) on the south, and parts of the Cosmopolitan, Jockey Club and Bellagio on the north.

Trumpeted as the “City Within a City”, it was going to be a fine example of New Urbanism. Kind of a Manhattan in the desert. Where people could live, work and play in a walkable environment. Housing would run all the way from luxury condominiums to affordable apartments for the complex’s employees. There is even a fire station on property. Some of the world’s leading architects were hired to design the many buildings and features. Almost 17 million square feet of casino, hotel, living and shopping at a cost exceeding $9.2 billion were opened in December 2009.

To lukewarm reviews. Maybe it was the hard economic times it opened in, or maybe the size was simply too large to process. It pretty much opened and went about the business of being big. Oh, it got the requisite local media coverage and coverage at the national and international level. But is always seemed to be “less”. Less coverage than a development it’s size deserved, less than a Steve Wynn joint would get, just kinda less overall. The biggest interest it got was about the doomed Harmon Hotel and the failed Viva Elvis Cirque de Soleil show. It wasn’t a new urban space in Las Vegas, it just seemed to be more stuff on the Strip.

But …

It opened. And it did business. At a time when other smart and competent operators on the Strip (and Las Vegas overall) were shutting down projects and waiting for the “outlook to improve,” CityCenter was open for business. And making money. Revenue. Return on investment. Although it never seemed like Crystals mall was busy, it was reported to have massive per square foot revenue (somehow). Seems like all the properties have sold within the last couple years and brought about what they cost to build or slightly more. Yet we are conditioned in the eternally heated Las Vegas market to think they could have sold for way more if they had different builders or were part of a different project.

I believe the completion of CityCenter was the best thing to happen in Las Vegas in this millennium. It shored up a crumbling market at a critical time, and that stability made the construction of T-Mobile Arena viable. Which provided a proper home for the Las Vegas Golden Knights of the NHL. The success of the NHL finally showed that pro sports in Las Vegas was more than the fever dream of Oscar Goodman. And that …. set in motion the impossible achievement of Allegiant Stadium being built with the NFL as the anchor tenant. I have studied pro sports for over 35 years and I believe it has never happened that a city can go from NHL to the NFL in less that 10-15 years. Cities have to struggle and  grind single-digit growth for decades to get where Las Vegas has since 2005. CityCenter was a big part of that.

Back to those stalled projects. No one blamed the builders who halted construction. The economic meltdown was real and the smart move was stopping. But we are just now seeing movement on many of those. There is a rumor just this week that St. Regis at Venelazzo is being dusted off.  After a dozen years the markets have improved enough to get them a second look. But CityCenter was chugging along the entire time.