CityCenter
Aria Campus, commonly known by its former name CityCenter, is a mixed-use, urban complex on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is located on and contains a total of. The complex includes Aria Resort and Casino, the Vdara condo-hotel, the Waldorf Astoria Las Vegas hotel and condominiums, the Veer Towers condominiums, and a mall known as The Shops at Crystals. Another hotel and condo project, The Harmon, never opened due to construction defects; the site was redeveloped as another shopping mall, known as 63 CityCenter.
CityCenter was developed by MGM Mirage and Dubai World. The project was conceived by MGM president and chief financial officer Jim Murren, who envisioned an urban district for Las Vegas, similar to Greenwich Village or Haight-Ashbury. MGM announced CityCenter on November 9, 2004. Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn Architects spent 20 months working with MGM on the master plan. Numerous architects, assembled by Gensler, were hired to work on individual components of CityCenter. The project received LEED Gold certifications for its environmentally friendly designs.
Construction of CityCenter began on June 25, 2006, with Perini Building Company as general contractor. A year later, Dubai World joined MGM as a partner on the project. Six workers died during construction, eventually prompting others to walk off the job in June 2008. Construction resumed the next day, after Perini agreed to improved safety demands. Dubai World later threatened to withhold further financing due to cost overruns, before reaching an agreement with MGM. CityCenter was completed at a cost of $8.5 billion, making it the most expensive privately funded construction project in U.S. history.
Vdara was the first property to open at CityCenter, debuting on December 2, 2009. Other properties opened later that month, while Veer Towers was completed in 2010. Aria is considered the central feature of CityCenter, and it includes the only casino at the complex. By 2019, CityCenter had been renamed Aria Campus.
MGM has sold off several of its CityCenter properties, including Crystals in 2016, the Mandarin Oriental hotel in 2018, and the former Harmon site in 2021. Later that year, MGM bought out Dubai World's ownership stake, gaining full control of Aria and Vdara, its last remaining properties at the complex. Both were sold in 2021, although MGM continues to operate them.
History
CityCenter was conceived by Jim Murren, president and chief financial officer of MGM Mirage, while development was overseen by MGM executive Bobby Baldwin. MGM had considered several different themed hotels for the site in the early 2000s, but none attracted high enthusiasm. The company later sought out a unique project idea for the land, different to anything that had been done before in Las Vegas.Murren began considering the concept of a mixed-use project in 2003. He created detailed architectural plans with help from Bill Smith, an architect who served as president of the subsidiary MGM Mirage Design Group. Murren presented his idea to MGM's board in March 2004. Kirk Kerkorian, majority shareholder in MGM, was convinced of the project's viability early on. Other board members were intrigued by Murren's proposal, but also skeptical. With CityCenter, Murren sought to create an urban gathering place for Las Vegas. The large project would be the first of its kind for the area. According to Murren, "No one has embarked on a development in this town. It's hard to equate it to anything. We are going to be leaders in the reshaping of the valley into a global market".
MGM announced the project, known then as Project CityCenter, on November 9, 2004. The company had spent eight months working on development plans for the site. The mixed-use project would include a casino resort, three boutique hotels, condominiums, retail space, and restaurants. MGM would work with developers and consultants specialized in each of these industries. The company also held discussions with a dozen hotel operators, seeking managers for CityCenter's hotels.
Construction
CityCenter was built on on the Las Vegas Strip, in between MGM's Monte Carlo and Bellagio resorts. The Boardwalk hotel-casino, also owned by MGM, occupied eight acres of the site.Much of the land for CityCenter had previously been occupied by the golf course for the Dunes hotel-casino, which closed in 1993. At the time of CityCenter's announcement, most of the site was now being used as employee parking for the Bellagio. Before construction could begin on CityCenter, a new parking garage had to be constructed for Bellagio employees along Frank Sinatra Drive. Early site work had begun by August 2005, with Perini Building Company as general contractor for the parking garage and CityCenter.
The Boardwalk was closed in January 2006, and imploded four months later to make way for CityCenter. Construction of CityCenter began on June 25, 2006, with a concrete pour forming the foundation for the future Aria Resort and Casino. The construction site was divided into three blocks, each with their own team of workers. With no on-site storage, the construction schedule and delivery of materials had to be carefully planned.
Six deaths occurred during construction. In February 2007, a steel wall used as a concrete mold fell from a crane, hitting another wall which struck four workers, killing two. In August 2007, a worker died when the counterweight for a construction elevator came down on him as he oiled the machine. Two months later, a worker fell approximately while working on the Aria tower. In April 2008, a worker fell approximately. The next month, a worker was crushed and killed when caught between the counter-weight system and the track of a crane. The project was nicknamed CityCemetery in response to the deaths. Other practices by workers caused concern, with some drinking before work in violation of Perini's company rules.
The deaths at CityCenter – in addition to those at other upcoming Strip resorts – prompted its construction workers to walk off the job at midnight on June 3, 2008, protesting safety conditions and shutting down construction. The Southern Nevada Building and Construction Trades Council demanded that Perini take three steps before work could resume: agree to pay for additional safety training for workers, allow national union researchers to examine root causes of safety problems on the site, and allow union leaders full access to the work site. An agreement was reached within a day, putting an end to the walkout. However, the work stoppage prompted the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to launch an investigation into the project's construction safety on June 9, 2008.
As of August 2008, the project had 7,700 construction workers, operating in shifts on a 24-hour basis. As a result of delays, MGM assigned its executive construction manager, Tishman Construction Corporation, to aid Perini starting in late 2008. At that time, CityCenter had up to 9,500 construction workers at a daily cost of $3.5 million. More than 50 million hours were spent building CityCenter, which had more workers than the construction of Hoover Dam.
Financing
CityCenter was initially expected to cost $5 billion, to be financed partially through condominium presales. By 2006, the project's budget had increased to $7 billion, due to several additions, including a monorail connecting throughout CityCenter. The rising cost of construction materials and labor also contributed to the increased budget. In 2007, Dubai World became a joint partner in the project. Numerous last-minute design changes took place during construction, continually raising the budget. By 2008, the project's cost had increased to more than $8 billion. The budget continued to fluctuate, reaching $9.2 billion later that year, before settling at $8.5 billion. It is the most expensive privately funded construction project in U.S. history.In March 2009, Dubai World sued MGM, accusing the latter of mismanaging development at CityCenter, resulting in the cost overruns. The lawsuit placed the project in financial jeopardy, as a $220 million construction payment was due later that month and Dubai World declined to fund it. MGM covered Dubai World's portion of the payment, and the two came to an agreement the following month which would ensure the completion of CityCenter. MGM had contacted Nevada U.S. senator Harry Reid for help in saving the project. Reid, in turn, contacted bank CEOs and urged them to loan MGM money to continue construction.
Opening
The first of CityCenter's features, the Vdara condo-hotel, opened to the public on December 2, 2009, following a VIP event the night before. A retail mall, Crystals, opened on December 3, and the Mandarin Oriental hotel opened a day later. The openings were part of a three-day celebration marking CityCenter's debut. The project's primary attraction, Aria Resort and Casino, is the only gaming property on-site. It opened on December 16, 2009. Veer Towers, a condominium property, opened on July 15, 2010.CityCenter opened amid the Great Recession, although Baldwin said the project would succeed despite the economic downturn. Murren expected CityCenter to be profitable within five to ten years, and said the complex would appeal to locals in addition to tourists. Mayor Oscar Goodman believed the project would help bring tourism to downtown Las Vegas. Analysts were mixed as to whether CityCenter would help boost the local economy. CityCenter sought to fill 12,000 job positions ahead of its opening, and more than 100,000 people applied as a result of the recession. Approximately half of the work force would consist of transfers from other MGM properties.
The project added around 5,900 hotel rooms at a time when Las Vegas tourism had declined. Initial profits were lower than MGM had hoped, and fine-tuning took place over the next year in response to customer feedback. In 2010, Aria and Vdara launched national advertising campaigns. CityCenter saw improvement by the end of 2012, in part because of reduced hotel rates.