County Orders All Citycenter Towers Examined

LAS VEGAS-Clark County has ordered MGM Mirage–developer of the $11-billion Citycenter on the Las Vegas Strip–to verify that all of the project’s towers are structurally sound. The requirement comes six months after defects were found at the Harmon, one of seven buildings on the site that are being constructed simultaneously en route to grand opening late this year.

The county determined that 15 floors of reinforcing steel at the Harmon had been improperly installed by subcontractor Pacific Coast Steel. Before being discovered, the mistakes were missed by Citycenter general contractor Perini Building Co., Converse Consultants, a national third party inspector hired to perform private inspection work for four of the towers, and by the county itself, which officially oversees such third-party inspectors.

MGM Mirage is required to submit a plan of action to the county before the end of the month for approval. The company, in part responsible for missing the mistakes in the first place, is not allowed to perform the work.

Last month, to resolve the structural issues with the Harmon, MGM Mirage opted to not build the top 21 floors of the building. The floors were supposed to house 200 private, whole-ownership condominiums. Their removal from the project presumably saves construction costs but concurrently cuts into planned unit sales revenue meant to offset the cost of the project. The lower floors of the building are still slated to be a condo-hotel.

Converse, which issued dozens of reports saying the rebar at the Harmon was installed correctly, also has the third-party inspection contract for the Harmon, Mandarin, Veer and Vdara towers. County officials have said they have no reasons to think the other buildings in the development are not structurally sound but want to be sure. The reinspection work will include testing the reinforcing steel as well, welds and bolting. Any problems would prompt more extensive testing and, if necessary, remediation.