will often asks this question. MGM has released it's first quarter results. So what do you think?

The way I see it, they brought in some high rollers for a look-see. We will have to wait and see if those whales come back or go to another MGM property.

So far, the non whales are non impressed. The tourist on the street does not like walking to Aria. The tourist in a car does not like parking there. It makes a nice walk through with few reasons to return.

With Aria barely getting 60$ occupancy on a grand opening quarter, I don't know if that is a passing grade or not. I think new rooms are coming on line faster than the economy is recovering and Aria needs more than a little fine tuning.

Thanks, JMT! I've got some new CC/Mirage info that I'll be posting this morning.

CC info as of May 9, 2010 ......

Las Vegas's City Center resort lost a lot of cash during its first full quarter of operations.

The $8.5 billion City Center is jointly owned by MGM Mirage and Dubai World.

The project consists of six towers filled with luxury condos, a 150,000-square-foot casino and three hotels, in addition to an upscale mall.

CityCenter struggled to fill its 4,000-room luxury hotel (Aria) after opening in December 2009. , Aria, had an occupancy rate of 63% for the first three months of the year which is 22 percentage points below the 85% rate for MGM Mirage's nine other Las Vegas Strip casinos during the first quarter.

So far It has only been able to finalize sales of about 100 of its 2,400 luxury condominiums.

CityCenter is in a dispute with its chief contractor, Perini Building Co., over approximately $500 million in construction fees.

In the first quarter, City Center recorded an operating loss of $255 million. That loss includes a $171 million write-down in the value of the project's condos.
The company took back $24 million from buyers who forfeited their deposits on condos.

Before accounting for the write-downs or other charges, City Center incurred a loss of $32 million.

The MGM Mirage reported a first-quarter loss of $96.7 million compared with a profit of $105.2 million a year earlier. Much of the loss was caused by City Center.
So far, investors have been patient, expecting that the property—and the company—will benefit from a Las Vegas recovery but the Las Vegas region continues to lag other big hotel markets.

More to follow …..

In my own humble opinion (and I hope I am wrong) - Everyone is being overly optimistic when it comes to forecasting the not too distant future,

I would not be too surprised to see some casinos closing down during those hours when they have relatively few customers.

But weekends still appear to be pretty lucrative for most casinos,

And at present the casinos are offering lots of incentives to get you inside the spider trap.... free money and other free stuff of every description.

I usually spend at least two full days collecting 'free stuff' each month.

But even now some of the smaller local casinos only offer table games during certain hours of the day and evening.

Now I'd be interested to discover just how much business the locals are giving City.
Center. I have yet to see any bargains there and the table minimums are usually $15 whenever I hurry through. And I've never seen more that a dozen people in the Aria buffet.


Personally, I don't know of any local who visits the Strip unless they have guests in town or just want a cheap and decent meal at Ellis Island .... on Koval Lane one block east of the Strip.

I only go down to the Strip to see if the business is picking up or to see the upgrades at the Tropicana or the new construction at the Encore. And that is usually only an hour or two each month.

Locals know that you get a better bang for your buck at local casinos off the Strip.

I could easily be the exception, but it is not unusual to find me on the strip 4 times a week. Between shows, conventions, and dining, I hit the tourist areas pretty hard.

I can appreciate people having a cheap meal at Ellis Island. My life doesn't revolve around cheap though. I want a good value. If I pay a cheap price, it's hard to be disappointed. I don't mind shelling out hard earned money for quality results. For instance, on the high end, I often try the monthly special at the Palm steakhouse, where $50 gets me a meal that I think is worth much more. Sometimes I buy gift certificates to make a very expensive meal a good value.

I've given up trying to look for a good value at City Center. Their $100 steaks aren't worth $50. Their $50 steaks are worth about $25. Did you know there is a PUB in Crystals that has nickel beer? It's PBR draft, but it's beer. It's only one night a week...Tues or Thur...one of those two. City Center is a fun place to take pictures. It does little else for me.

I was on the strip tonight, and have plans for a night on the strip, on Paradise Rd, and downtown this week. And I have high priority plans to ride the new ACE bus, visit the Stratosphere, and take a drive through Lake Mead and Valley of Fire. I kinda got an urge to take the jump off the Stratosphere on their new ride.

On the non-tourist side, I plan to photograph some mid century modern architecture, take pictures between the Huntridge area and the Stratosphere, eat at Luv Its Frozen Custard, and visit some very old parks. Also, Jerry's Nugget is high on my list to stop by.

I don't throw money around carelessly when I'm out. I do tip well for good service and tip poorly for bad. I like to think that I help the good restaurants and good employees, and don't help the big business bottom line that much. I generally don't gamble or drink much when I go out.

Thanks for the above post, JMT.

For any of you folks who may be interested in the status of City Center, I refer you to the following regarding funds (reported as $500,000,000) owed by MGM Mirage to its contractors and what is being done about it:

Interesting 'stuff' is happening!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Citizens-Holding-MGM-Accountable/105988129444480?ref=AdWords

Who are the 'Bad Guys"?

MGM Mirage is in dispute with Perini Building Co. over the payment of $500 million in CityCenter construction costs.

This dispute also involves numerous sub-contractors consisting of minority- or women-owned businesses that were brought into the CityCenter project by MGM Mirage as part of the company's diversity hiring program.

MGM Mirage required Perini, CityCenter's general contractor, to award more than $800 million in subcontracts to minority- and women-owned businesses.

"Our issues are not with those firms. Our issues are with Perini," Murren said. "Those firms have signed contracts with the general contractor."

Murren said it bothers him that small local businesses are caught in the middle of the dispute.

Perini asked Gov. Jim Gibbons and other elected officials to intervene in the matter. A spokesman for the governor said the office's legal counsel was examining the letter from Perini executives.

SO ....I will go to court which the debt gets deeper and the lawyers get very rich in the process.

Is it possible that the only Bad Guys are those lawyers?

will, have you ever listened to Murren? He has done plenty of interviews, especially as City Center opened. He gets paid a lot of money to say certain things, and he has said it so much that I think he actually believes it.

OTOH, I'm sure the documentation in the Perini deal is so confusing that it takes groups of lawyers to sort it out. So I'm not taking sides on this yet except to say Jim Murren has little or no credibility. I don't know enough about Perini to know what their credibility is.

JMT, No, I've never heard Murren speak, but I did read a 'humorous' comment of his about not being around too much longer.

I've learned in dealing with real estate to always speak as if prosperity is just around the corner and that there is never a bad real estate investment. (Say goof things and good things happen!)

I used to believe that once myself and it might be somewhat true over the 'long term' but there are just too many days between now and when we reach that 'long term' day.

And I think that will be his downfall.

Plus the fact that a lot of individuals who helped to build CC have yet to be paid.

I sure don't know all the details about this $500,000,000 that is supposedly owed to Perini and the sub-contractors by MGM, but from what I do know, the following solution seems simple enough and would save millions of dollars in legal fees.

MGM should simply pay all those sub-contractors that have completed their part of the job satifactorily. Pay them and be done with that part of the problem.

MGM states that the problem is with Perini and not the sub-contractors. But those sub-cotractors apparently worked for the contractor (Perini) whom MGM is refusing to pay.

If and when those sub-contractors are paid, legal proceedings should determine how much money MGM should pay to the contractor (Perini) and insure that those funds are paid within 48 hours so that there can be no further complaints from either side,

If I am not mistaken the big problem between Perini and MGM is the Harmon portion of the CItyCenter project but under the present circumstances, I think MGM will also introduce many other problems before this situation is resolved in court.

I have heard that an early and simple solution is not in the best interest of the lawyers, so it will probably get very complicated and drag on for a good long time.

Only my personal opinion though.

will, I hope you read the 13? page letter that Perini put in the LVRJ. It was a fun read.

Also to put the first quarter in perspective for the rest of the industry, here are some numbers I found on other places. Gains and losses in millions.

Hard rock 26.5 loss

Las Vegas Sands 28.9 loss

Tropicana 7.7 loss

Stratosphere 2.7 loss

Stations 53.5 loss

Parent company of Riviera 4.5 loss

Boyd 8.4 profit

Wynn 27 profit

Golden Nugget profit???

JMT, I did not read it but will look for it. Thanks.

And.... I'm not surprised by those loses.

But good to see the two profits.

No mention on City Center?

will, the letter is kinda hard to find as Perini paid to have it published, much like an ad. Here's a link....

http://media.lasvegassun.com/media/pdfs/blogs/documents/2010/05/05/periniletter0505.pdf


For everyone, it is a very interesting read.

Thanks, JMT. I read it in its entirety and although there are two sides to every story; I find myself on Perini's side.

But I retain the right to change my opinion as this battle proceeds.

Thanks for sending the letter, JMT.

What side do you favor at this precise period of time?

Do you think anyone in their right mind would purchase a CityCenter condo under the present circumstances? And I wonder if these facts were disclosed to those Buyers who have purchased and closed units within City Center.

I'm somewhat surprised that the unions have yet to get involved. Is there a reason for that?

More to comment on .... but I'll save it for later.

Thanks again, JMT.

JMT, ya know? When you give this Perini/MGM situation some deep thought, it appears that Mr Murran is following the only course of action that he can take in an effort to make CityCenter successful.... but he is failing miserably.

But only time will tell.

A man in his position would never want to make anyone or any company involved in the project look bad while the project is being developed due to the fact that it would have a bad affect on the condominium sales and other important factors.

The old real estate way of not doing or saying anything which would garner adverse publicity during the project's development phase appears to have been adhered to rather closely until the Harmom structural problem reared its ugly head and became public concern.

Now all this adverse who-pays-who publicity will definitely have an adverse affect on the entire CityCenter project.

In the long run it would have definitely saved millions of dollars if all parties had come to some form of a mutual agreement (arbitration?) when payment was due and payable.

I personally think that we will soon be seeing new leadership within MGM Grand.

It is also interesting to note that some condo apartment owners within another Perini project (I think it's called 'Queen's Gate') are also presently complaining about Perini's post construction 'tactics', but I would definitely not be surprised if those same folks proved to be friends with the MGM folks or MGM stockholders at least.

I do think that this will get to be a lot more interesting before it settles down and that a good number of legal folks will be laughing all the way to the bank but never in the presence of those who pay them - if in fact they do get paid!

The following info was gathered from the LVRJ ...

As of mid-May, 2010, 125 CC residential units inside the Mandarin Oriental and Vdara have closed fot a total of $117.7 million in sales.

(Mandarin Oriental closed 32 units for a total of $67.7 million).

(Vdara closed 93 units for a total of $50 million).

The Mandarin has 227 condo units.
The Vdara has 1,495 condo-hotel units.

Veer Towers (670 units) have not yet started closing.

Eight of the Mandarin units sold for over $3 million each.

CityCenter therefore has 2,392 residential units of which 125 have closed.

If these figures are accurate 5.2% of CC’s residential units have closed.

Does anyone know how many of those 2,267 remaining residential units are still in escrow waiting to be closed?

How many have sold?

And how many CC residential units are still available for sale?

Coming up next .... My recommendations for a possible solution.

On June 9 @ 10 AM MGM will hold a meeting with the CityCenter sub-contractors in the Aria Hotel Casino.

Should be interesting.

My possible solution ..... and a bit of related stuff.......

If you've ever purchased a condo apartment you realize that you are obligated to pay the monthly "maintenance fees" in addition to your mortgage, utilities, and taxes.

Those maintenance fees could possibly include the utilities (unless each unit is separately metered), taxes, etc.

Monthly maintenance fees are computed by a team of qualified real estate/ accounting experts who compute the entire cost of operating and maintaining the entire building and the grounds on which it sits.

Based on my personal but very limited experience, each individual owner within the complex has a percentage of interest which is computed by dividing the square footage of his apartment by the total number of square feet in the entire project.

This then shows the percentage of interest that each individual apartment owner has within the entire project and the percentage of the building's expenditures that he would be obligated to pay.

But it gets a bit more complicated when there is a residential/hotel mix, because there are usually 'debates' over such issues as valet service, common area maintenance, and way too many more complication as to whom is responsible for various expenditures - the residential owners or the hotel operation.

I am a bit familiar with a couple of residential/hotel projects in which the owners' association was represented by a Board of Directors which was overloaded with members who owned the vast majority of the hotel "apartments" so the majority of that Board's decisions were made in favor of the hotel operation to the detriment of the individuals who resided in the building as their principal residence.

I have no idea what the monthly maintenance fee is for each residential unit within the various CC buildings, but I am sure it is quite high and a huge expenditure for MGM each month because MGM has to pay that percentage of interest for each apartment until that apartment is sold.

And there are usually related maintenance problems in any mixed-use building and it would be interesting to learn if CityCenter has figured out a way to solve the usual maintenance fee issues.


Sorry for that long winded dissertation.

Here's the short SOLUTION comment regarding the current residential unit sales situation.

Has anyone ever considered the Timeshares possibility?

I think Veer Towers would be one great timeshare endeavor.

MGM says they will pay the contractors ASAP, after meeting with the Love Gov.

I'd guess it isn't over yet.

JMT, I'm thinking about making an attempt to get into that MGM - Sub-Contractor's meeting. I think it will be interesting with a lot of adverse opinions.

Here's some info on CityCenter's Veer Towers:

There are a total of 2,400 residential units within CityCenter.

Veer Towers has two towers totaling 670 residential condominium apartments and is the only all-residential project in the 'Center'.

Note that the Mandarin Oriental does have condominium apartments on the upper floors of its hotel and the Vdara is a condo-hotel project.

Veer closed five condominium apartments at the end of May 2010 for a total price of $3.2 million.

By the end of may 2010 the closing figures for residential unit closings within CityCenter are as follows:

146 residential units at CityCenter closed sales for a total price of $146 million.
37 units at the Mandarin Oriental closed sales for for a total price of$86 million.
104 units at the Vdara closed sales fora total price of $57 million
5 units in Veer Towers closed for a total price of $3.2 million.

By my calculations 6% of the residential apartments within CityCenter have closed as of the end of May 2010.

Today is Wednesday, the 9th of June, and MGM Mirage honchos will be meeting with the CityCenter subcontractors regarding payment owed at 10 AM in the Aria.

As of this moment I don't believe Perini personnel have been invited but I'm sure a few will show up in an attempt to attend that meeting.

There should be some interesting news tonite!

I'm going ot do my best to see if I can show up and take some photos but I don't believe I'll be able to attend the meeting itself.

I just returned from the MGM/subcontractors meeting which started about 10 AM this morning and was very well organized and professional donw.

The meeting was held in a large room within the Aria convention center and Mr Bobby Baldwin presided.

Basically he explained the procedures to follow in order to get paid the amount due and MGM expects to close all the subcontractor accounts prior to the beginning of December 2010.

Everyone was invited to ask questions from the floor and Mr Baldwin answered each in turn.

I would estimate that there were about 500 people in attendance.

I don't believe Perini reps were 'invited' but there was no check-in procedure prior to entering the room, so I am pretty sure that Perini personnel were present.

There were no outbursts and everyone left that meeting looking somewhat satisfied.

Many long term Las Vegas residents believe that the immediate future of Las Vegas hinges on the success of CityCenter.

"As CityCenter goes, so goes Las Vegas!"

I tend to agree a bit because new developments in this town have always helped LV to reach new levels of success.

And that has been a fact up to the point where we entered this exceptionally bad economic situation.

So I firmly believe that CityCenter will definitely "help" to lead the way but only after our present economy starts improving. But then it will take a bit of time, "First in, last out" seems to be what's on most minds.

But something good must be happening to the economy right now because, for the first time within the past couple of years, I see more and more people in the casinos.

I mean "a lot more people" in the casinos these past few weeks.

And that makes me think ...... Will the casinos still want me badly enough to send me offers for 'free stuff' and 'free money' just for stopping in for a visit?

Actually I don't think they'll want me that bad once this town gets back on its feet.

And I think I am witnessing that right now. It's just starting to happen.

With that said, here are some June figures/stats pertaining to the sale of redsidential condo units within the CityCenter complex.

$187,000,000 Total sales of condo units sold within CityCenter


2,400 The number of condo units in CityCenter
200 The number of condo units within CityCenter that have sold


227 The number of condo units on the top floors of the Mandarin
39 The number of of condos within the Oriental Mandarin that have closed

670 The number of condo units in the Veer Towers
37 The number of condo units in the Veer Towers that have closed

1,495 The number of condo-hotel units in the Vdara
120 The total number of Vdara units that have closed



33 The average number of CityCenter residential closings per month
4 The average number of residential condo sales in Las Vegas per month


$ 187,000,000 Total sales of condo units sold within CityCenter
$ 93,900,000 Total price of the 39 Mandarin units that have closed ($1,000-1,200/SF)
$ 74,000,000 Total price of the 120 Vdara units that have closed ($800/SF)
$ 18,700,000 Total price of the 37 Veer Tower units that have closed ($600/SF)

$ 225,000,000 CityCenter 1st quarter operating loss
(A profit is expected in the 2nd)

Deleted because I posted it twice.

And now we got more troubles in the neighborhood. Not in CityCenter but right new door - in the Cosmopolitan! which is owned by Deutsche Bank.

A group of Cosmo buyers who have yet to close the purchase of their condo units (220 individuals) are suing in an effort to prevent the resort from renting their units to hotel guests when it opens on December 15, 2010 which is apparently prior to their closing dates.

If you are interested there is a lot more info regarding this subject on the Las Vegas Review Journal web site.

It seems to me that every high-rise residential project in Las Vegas has suffered numerous problems these past few years and many of the newer high rise apartments appear to be vacant or unsold.

Is anyone aware where on the net one can find specific information regarding this subject?

I've heard bits and pieces of the story, but never enough to put it together. Will, you are our resident condo guru. We're counting on you.

Notes: 2nd Quarter CityCenter (April/MayJune 2010)

MGM Resorts CityCenter cost $8.5 billion to build.

Oct 2009 equity value of CityCenter decreased to $4.88 billion
July 2010 equity value of CityCenter decreased to $2.65 billion

Yahoo Definition: Equity value is the value of a company available to owners or shareholders. It is the enterprise value plus all cash and cash equivalents, short and long-term investments, and less all short-term debt, long-term debt and minority interests.

In this CityCenter case, the equity value did not take into account the value of the buildings which MGM has not made public.

(I too am confused about ‘equity value’ but it is interesting to note that it has been decreasing. I wonder if there is any tax advantage to a lower equity value?)

CityCenter had an operating loss of $128 million for April, May, and June 2010. (I have no idea how that loss figure compares to other Las Vegas hotel/casinos.)

A Securities Gaming Analyst stated that these second quarter of operations and trends are definitely headed in the wrong direction.

CityCenter dragged down MGM Resorts’ overall numbers for a net loss of $883 million ($2 a share) for this 2nd quarter (April/May/June, 2010)

Last year’s MGM Resorts' loss for the same period was $212 million (sixty-cents a share).

MGM Resorts closed sales on 196 units at CityCenter during this 2nd quarter –
Mandarin – 18 units closed
Vdara – 105 units closed
Veer – 73 units closed

I am somewhat surprised by these closing figures and see it as a relatively good ‘sign’ for condo sales within CityCenter.

MGM Resorts Chairman and CEO Jim Murren said CityCenter is improving. Advanced convention bookings have increased and Aria's market share is equaling that of Bellagio. Aria saw hotel occupancy increase in the quarter and grew noncasino revenues.

Actually I hope it exceeds his expectations.

But I also hope that he’s still in office once it gets on its feet financially.

How gaming analysts see the 2nd quarter …..

The LV Strip has too many hotel rooms and 2,000 more rooms will open up this December upon the completion of the Cosmopolitan.

One analyst goes so far to say that the LV locals market is showing no signs of turning around.

Macau is the gambling industrys bright spot where gaming revenues surged more than 70 percent in July from a year ago and was up more than 20 percent over June.

These profits helped LV Sands Corporation which has three Macau resorts….. and Wynn Resorts Ltd. opened its second Macau casino in April and saw revenues jump 74 percent in the second quarter

MGM Grand Macau turned profitable in the second quarter with an operating income of $40 million, .but it was not enough to carry the company forward due to its Las Vegas losses.

I wonder how much those 200 units closed for in comparison to what the pre construction prices were. Is selling a unit at a loss a good thing?

Much like the Trump, I can't imagine anyone wanting to live in Vdara. I'd like to have enough money to where I had many choices of where to live and Vdara and Trump were some of those options.

JMT, I could look it up, but I do recall reading about a 30% reduction in the CC condo prices across the board.

I also would not like to live in any high-rise along the Strip, but I'd enjoy owning one or two for visitors or foe long term (VERY long term) investments.

But for the present moment in history I cannot see any profit being made by any CC condo investor within the next ten years.

Will do my best to compute some figures to substantiate the above statement.

Although it's actually not an official part of CityCenter, it is right next door and appears to be a part of CiryCenter.

Buit it ain't.

The 65 foot Cosmopolitan marquee was lit yesterday (Wed, Aug 17). It's big and took 6+ months to build.

The Cosmo has 2,995-rooms in the 50-story resort-casino tower and will open for business mid-December 2010 with the Grand Opening over Year’s Eve weekend.

The Cosmo will have a 43,000-square-foot spa, 100,000 square feet of gaming space, 60,000 square feet of retail space, 11 restaurants three separate pools, and a nightclub by the Tao Group.

That's a lot of feets!

No word about the condos which were originally planned.

Will - I thought the Cosmo WAS a part of City Center. So who owns it?

Mike, to the best of my knowledge Deutsche Bank is the current owner of Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas and will be managed by Hilton and would become the Hilton's first in their new Denizen hotel line.

But there is presently some legal matters underfoot that I am not familiar with so things could change.

And I believe that there are some plans to integrate the project into Bellagio and CityCenter.

Actually I am not up go date on this Cosmopolitan project too very well.

But it will open 15 December, 2010.

As of mid-August 2010, CityCenter condo sales have reached 329 units for a total value of $285.5 mllion. This is about 14% of the 2,400 available residential units within the $8.5 billion CC complex.

Here's the breakdown:

Mandarin Oriental
227 Total Condo Units
55 sold
$127.4 millon – Total Sales Price
$1,158 – Price per SF
.
VDARA
1,495 Condo Units (585 for sale and 910 in hotel pool)
145 sold
$87.3 millon – Total Sales Price
$788 – Price per SF

Veer Towers
670 Condo Units
129 sold
$70.8 millon – Total Sales Price
$610 – Price per SF

At the end of June 2010, 300 CityCenter condominium units had closed sales while 109 units had been sold at the end of Mar for a total of 409 CC condos sold.

City Center Condo Sales as of August 2010:

Mandarin Oriental = Approx 24% sold
Vdara = Approx 10% sold
Veer Towers = Approx 19% sold

I too have heard that Cosomo and the Jockey Club are not part of City Center. I think that's more of a financial and legal separation. I haven't heard that Cosmo has the green technology and certifications that City Center does. There had to be cooperation in the construction as to not get in each others way, coordinate utilities, right of ways, etc.

To the average tourist it is a part of City Center as it is another goofy shape on LV Blvd next to Crystals, it is a new building amongst new buildings, and is part of the same growth on those limited acres.

While it isn't part of City Center, perhaps it should be. It is a streetfront property with a casino and some quality dining planned. It is a project that "appears" to have much more going for it than City Center. It is also next door to Bellagio.

YEA, JMT! It will be very interesting to see how Cosmo does in comparison with the Aria. I think the fact that it will have better access from the Strip will prove to be a major advantage.

The Jockey Club is still squeezed in the back back there and has some type of agreement with the surrounding, more elaborate, high-rises to use some of their fancy amenities, but that's the extent of my knowledge on that subject.

Latest news regarding the Cosmo: Cosmopolitan has announced a deal with Marriott International. This allows Cosmopolitan to have access to Marriott's 32 million travelers -- one of the largest customer databases in the hotel industry.

I guess there was some problems with Hilton.

Interesting legal shinanigans at City Center's, Eva Longoria Parker's Beso Restaurant and Eve Nightclub.

If anyone is interested, I'll do my best to gather up the information but word from the street, which may be rumors, claims that one of the partner's husband has been making a fool of himself inside the business with threatening remarks and even hitting one of the customers which resulted in a restraining order. - Rumor only folks.

Anyone else got the story?

While it does not interest me that much, you could probably dig up something from the website of Robin Leach. That's right up his alley and even if it didn't happen, he's the kind of writer to embellish the story to make it interesting.

Have you dined there yet?

No, JMT, I have not dined at Beso for fear of getting into an altercation.

I hate getting 'altercated'.

Thanks for the Robin Leach suggestion. I'll follow through.

Thanks to JMT, we are now aware of where not to park when visiting the soon to open Cosmopolitan as the bottom parking structure requires a pump to keep it from flooding.

Would an indoor swimming pool be more appropriate? Or a berthing place for small boats?

But be aware that the Cosmo is not actually a part of CityCenter.

Not yet anyway!

As an aside it looks like one of the major LV night club operators will take over the Cosmo hot spots and then proceed to make an offer to purchase the Hard Rock Hotel/Casino.

Thanks for that Robin Leach suggestion, JMT. I just finished reading parts of it and never realized it existed before you mentioned it. Good LV info there.

will, remember that Robin has a strong reputation for making things up, especially if he needs more info to complete a story or make something out of nothing. I guess he is a decent source for filling in the blanks of a story when you only have bits and pieces.

Thanks for that info too, JMT.

To be perfectly honest .... I've never ever read anything written by or about Mr. Leach since I first visualized him as a celebrity chaser many years ago.

I have little respect for 'them kind'a folk" especially when they resort to gossip about people involved in sho-biz.

And personally ,,, I could care less about Paris and what she had for breakfast and who/whom with or how great a family man Brad happens to be.

But I sort of do find it interesting to see how the legal system handles the upper crust of Las Vegas and if and when her boyfriend gets a new job in this town after being fired by Mr Wynn himself.

But I do like to talk about the past, the present, and the future of this town we call Las Vegas.... and where it's heading in particular!

At present I see no promising light at the end of the tunnel which I estimate to be 10 to 20 years in the distance.

A lot of people got to remember to forget before this town returns to more prosperous times similar to just five years back.

Sort of an update here but nothing too exciting regarding Crystals ... the very high end shopping complex in CityCenter.

Crystals will not change its strategy of strictly high-end luxury.

If you shop there, you will be seeing more of the 'same' high end shops but they are adjusting with more 'trees', dining options, and places to sit.

The best news for high end buyers is that Crystals expects to be 86% occupied by this coming December.

I think that they offer pizza now!

Find out how much the shops are paying lease that space and you'll have a story. You'll find yourself scratching your head and wondering why it isn't 100$ occupied.

JMT, are you saying that price per square foot in Crystals is relatively inexpensive?

I have heard that one of the most expensive store spaces to rent was once in The Forum Shops in Caesars but I had difficulty ascertaining that and have no idea where they stand today.

I visit a lot of high-end store locations and often wonder how those stores could afford to pay the monthly rent as I seldom see anyone at all in those fancy shops.

That goes for all those shops in the Wynn resorts, Crystals and the rest of them, while Fashion Square Mall is always very busy.

I sometimes think that those high end stores get rent-free space due to the 'prestiege' that they bring to the complex.

I understand that Deutsche Bank has initiated foreclosure proceedings against Town Square and that the Outlet Mall downtown will be expanding, so at least one place seems to be doing well.

I sure hope this economy situation starts improving in 2011 but I seriously doubt it even though some say that the Strip casinos are showing signs of improvement.

We'll see!

LATEST RUMOR ... based on a brief mention in a local newspaper which I never read.......

The Harmon in the City Center could possibly be demolished but not before numerous lawsuits are settled.

Anything official on that subject, JMT?

I think you got it all, Mr City Center. I can an unrelated fact that I saw much of the Viva Elvis wrap removed from the Harmon. Who knows what they will replace it with.

There is speculation that while the lawyers argue back and forth over millions of dollars, The Harmon is probably just fine at it's current height. If it were to open as is, it would be easier to fill up than if it were 3 times taller, especially in this economy. Also buildings are designed to be overbuilt beyond current structural minimums. It remains unclear just exactly how unsafe The Harmon is. Maybe it can withstand a 6.8 earthquake, if code required it to handle 7.0. Maybe it has 3 percent less rebar in certain areas than code, but the structural integrity could be easily reinforced. Maybe it doesn't meet requirements for a hotel room, but is above code for an office building, commerical building, or other usage which might be better since we don't need the hotel rooms.

Unrelated to any of this is the fact that the Cosmopolitan is being lit up and will be a major player on the strip. MRI might need to consider that The Harmon might be there only new player on the strip that could compete with the Cosmo.

AT PRESENT the room-rate range in the COSMO is $160 - $350+ per night (according to their website),

I have a feeling those rates will change rather swiftly.

I agree. Furthermore, I think that whatever they drop to, Aria will have to be $10-25 lower to stay competitive.

I'm guessing that by March, you'll see $99 on the website and maybe $79 discounted specials.

Well after being such a pessimist about the Las Vegas casino situation. I was somewhat excited about the crowd I ran into at the Orleans last Saturday night .... Sat following the TG holiday.

Many feel that it won't continue but it felt great to see it anyway.

And it will be interesting to see how Cosmo fits into this presently bleak scenario.

Will, My sister didn't even want to see the new casino. It just didn't interest her. And there lies the problem, what is the hook for that place to the common man/woman.
I do agree it was nice seeing crowds walking the strip, and downtown! Even Mresort was fuller then normal on our 2 visits. I'm not saying busy, just better filled.

Yea, Lee! There really isn't much in there to "pull" anyone inside.

I've been inside CC a few times but in each case it was only to see if business was improving .... which it ain't!

If they at least offered a hot pastrami sandwich with a cold glass of beer on the side at somewhat of a reasonable price, I'd probably enter with my wallet.

But the way it is at present, I'd have to stop on my way to the bank and get a mortgage if I decided to stay over 15 minutes.

There ain't no bargains or Wynn type wonders to see there!

Actually I may be being a bit unfair because I did enjoy a relatively inexpensive Thai meal in the Aria whose name I presently forget, but I do recommend it if you plan to eat within the CC compex.

And I have yet to hear high praise for any dining spot within CityCenter.

Anyone hear anything different?