MGM Reveals Shops, Food at Crystals

LAS VEGAS-A new slate of retailers and restaurants were revealed Monday by the developers of CityCenter, the 18-million-square-foot development on 67 acres at the center of the Las Vegas Strip that went up all at once and will open in phases later this year. The retailers will be housed in Crystals, a 500,000-square-foot retail and dining district designed by Studio Daniel Libeskind and David Rockwell.

The newly revealed large-format luxury retailers coming to Crystals include Prada, Hermes, Cartier, Versace, Christian Dior, Bulgari, Carolina Herrera, Roberto Cavalli and Van Cleef & Arpels. Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co. and Ermenegildo Zegna were announced previously.

Retailers using Crystals to enter the Las Vegas market include Tom Ford, Assouline, Kiton, Miu Miu, Paul Smith and Porsche Design. Also new to the market but previously announced include H. Stern, de Grisogono, Marni, Boutique Tourbillon and Mikimoto.

Restaurants opening their first Las Vegas locations at Crystals include Eva Longoria Parker’s Beso and Mastro’s Ocean Club Seafood House. Also coming to Crystals is a new pub concept by Todd English and two previously announced new concepts by Wolfgang Puck.

Other known retailers taking space at Crystals include Bally, Emilio Pucci, Ilori, and Dale Chihuly, who will have a gallery at the center. CityCenter is a 50-50 joint venture of MGM Mirage and Dubai World. The Taubman Co. is responsible for leasing.

Sitting between the Monte Carlo and Bellagio resorts also owned by MGM Mirage, CityCenter is an estimated $9-billion development that includes 6,400 hotel, condo and condo-hotel rooms in several high-rise towers designed by famous architects. The development has been under construction since 2005.

If the project remains on track, it will open in stages between October 1 and December 16, when the 4,000-room Aria hotel-casino is scheduled to open. The 500,000-square-foot Crystals retail component will be between 65% and 70% booked by the time it opens on December 3.

The different towers include Aria Resort & Casino, the anchor project with 4,004 hotel rooms; three non-gaming hotels including Mandarin Oriental, Vdara Hotel and Harmon; Veer Towers, the development’s only strictly residential development.

Sales revenue from some 2,700 condos was initially expected to total $2.7 billion, but the recession has left approximately half of the units unsold and a construction mistake killed plans for a couple of hundred condos that were planned above the Harmon Hotel, the only piece of the development that will not open this year as previously planned. Of the $1.6 billion in contracted condominium sales MGM Mirage expects to close on at least 75% of that total, sources at MGM Mirage have told GlobeSt.com. However, some condo buyers who agreed to purchase units at to top of the market are now suing MGM Mirage to either get out of their purchase contracts or to pay less because the value of the units is now substantially below what they have agreed to pay.

The total development cost for CityCenter is now approximately $8.8 billion not including the cost of the land. The total development cost includes $6.9-billion in guaranteed maximum price contracts minus $500 million in planned savings, $1.8 billion in other construction costs not included in the GMPs, $300 million in financing costs and $200 million in pre-opening expenses.

Completion of the project was in doubt until two months ago, when MGM Mirage and Dubai World resolved differences and received the $1.8-billion secured credit facility from lenders necessary to complete and open the massive undertaking, which includes its own monorail.