Construction Still Booming in Las Vegas

The media recently has been abuzz with the halt ofon Turnberry Associates' Fountainebleau is scheduled
construction to Boyd gaming's 4 billion dollar resort,to be complete by fall of 2009. Upon completion, the
The Echelon. The project was originally intended toresort will add over 3,800 rooms, condo-hotel units
open in 2010. Boyd gaming had razed the agingand penthouses to the Las Vegas strip.
Stardust property in 2006 to make way for theFurther down Las Vegas Boulevard, another massive
resort. As a result of the stoppage, Boyd's stockproject is underway. M Resort, a 700 million dollar
rose after the announcement. Of course, notproject located at Las Vegas Boulevard and St Rose
everyone was happy with their decision. TheParkway is going forward. One of the keys to their
property is now sitting half completed on some ofsuccess while other projects stall or are even
the most expensive real estate in the state. Echeloncancelled is their funding. Unlike other projects, M
joins other partial completed projects like theResort, Spa and Casino had all necessary financing in
Cosmopolitan further down the strip. However, it'splace since the start of construction and as well
not all doom and gloom for the construction industryfixed-price construction contracts(a practice that
in Las Vegas.other builders would be wise to adopt, especially
Las Vegas Strip Constructionsince the price of oil can be directly tied to the rise
Strip construction is going on up and down Las Vegasof construction costs).
Boulevard. To the south you'll see several resorts andEconomic Impact
high rises still under construction. Construction at OneThe economic impact the construction industry has
Las Vegas is nearing completion for tower two andon the Las Vegas valley is undeniable. Even without
some residents have already moved in. The massivecounting new construction, most strip properties are
CityCenter project, aiming to be the largest LEEDconstantly being remodeled. This tax revenue has
certified project in Las Vegas is another huge projecthelped bolster state tax revenues as tourism has
under construction. Despite several tragedies duringdipped over the last year. The other side effect is
construction, according to CityCenter officials thethe creation of even more jobs once a project has
project is still on schedule and should be completedbeen completed. In the coming year, several
by November 2008. Should CityCenter obtain itsthousand jobs will be created by the opening of
LEED certification, it will become the largest greenCityCenter, M Resort and Fountainebleau. Aliante
project in the world (although the Palazzo would stillStation, a local casino in the master planned
retain its claim to be the largest single green buildingcommunity of Aliante in North Las Vegas, hired over
in the world). CityCenter will feature two hotel1,500 workers and plans on hiring more as needed in
towers with condo-hotel units and two residentialthe coming months. Even without any state income
towers.tax, these new workers will impact the local
Just down the street from CityCenter, constructioneconomy.