RKF executive vice president Frank Volk tells GlobeSt.com heexpects no problem leasing up the space long before the project iscompleted in 2008. "The opportunity to have exposure to 45 millionvisitors inside a vertically integrated mixed-use property isattractive to any retailer," he says. "There are a lot of folks whoare not in the market yet and a cadre of tenants who will expand inthe market as well. We're focusing more on tenants new to themarketplace."

The Cosmopolitan will have 3,000 hotel and condominium units, a75,000 sf casino, an 1,800-seat theater, 150,000 sf of meetingspace, a 3,800-space underground parking garage and a five-acre"beach club." The glass-walled retail space will stretch 1,500 feetalong Las Vegas Boulevard. The three-level space is slated to house45 to 50 retail stores and boutique tenants in 140,000 sf. Theremaining 160,000 sf has been set aside for a dozen or sorestaurants and lounges, and a nightclub. Volk declined to discussasking rents, but local sources say ground-level retail space onthe Strip is in the high $100s- to low $200s per sf on anannualized basis.

"We've brought [RKF] in to put together a retail mix that is alofty, unique, fashion-forward mix that [it] has historicallyproven it can pull off," says Ian Bruce Eichner, chairman and chiefexecutive officer of 3700 Associates LLC, the developer of theCosmopolitan.