EL AD IDB Las Vegas LLC is a joint venture between EladProperties, a New York-based subsidiary of Israeli billionaireYitzhak Tshuva's El-Ad Group, and Property & Building Corp., asubsidiary of Israeli-based IDB Holdings Corp. The partnership saysdesign completion and the start of the excavation is scheduled tooccur before the end of the year.

Published reports recently have speculated that the project maybe delayed due to the dislocated credit markets. Elad Propertiesdid not respond to a request for comment, but El-Ad Group presidentMiki Naftali has refuted those reports, saying the project ismoving forward. The would-be development on the former site of theNew Frontier hotel and casino is slated to include seven high-risetowers housing 4,100 hotel rooms; 2,600 condominium units; 175,900sf of gaming; 480,000 sf of retail and restaurant space; 539,607 sfof convention space; a 50,000 sf health club; a 1,500-seat theater;and 227,038-sf of recreation space for pools and other amenitiesatop a mid-rise podium.

The financial markets aren't the only issues EL AD IDB Las Vegashas had to contend with regarding its massive project. Two lawsuitsare in play, one by longtime local resort broker David Atwell ofResort Properties of America, who is suing Elad for a commission onthe $1.24-billion sale of the development site, and another byTamares Las Vegas Properties LLC, the owner of the historicDowntown Plaza Hotel & Casino, which is attempting to preventElad from using the Plaza name for its project.