It could be the beginning of the beginning — again – for Las Vegas. The opening of City Center, which began Tuesday with the debut of Vdara, will either energize this city into the next frenzied renaissance of fast money and solipsistic fantasy. Or bring Vegas to its knees. All eyes are on the $8.5 billion experiment –easily the largest resort and hospitality project in the world – to see what all the money in the world can do to wave a chunk of the Great Recession of 2009 away.

The Vdara is one of four hotels opening at CityCenter Las Vegas. And it is a beauty. It has 1,459 non-smoking suites that can be booked for as little as $129 a night at this point. Considered “boutique” as a hotel by Vegas standards, even average suites are not just rooms. The are, indeed, suites with equipped kitchen (including Keurig espresso machine), a precious dining nook, a living room with couch that folds out to a queensize bed and a comfortable masterbed with floor to ceiling views over the city – especially this mini city. Bathrooms are efficiently large with a deep-soaking Eurostyle tub, separate glass shower and Aveda amenities.

As a non-gaming property, it connects to Ballagio through a windowed walkway and sits next to CityCenter’s soon to debut Aria – its signature gaming resort.

The tenor is low key at Vdara. A lovely lounge offers indoor and outdoor relaxation spaces. Wifi throughout is included in the resort fee. The onsite all-meal restaurant, Silk Road, is the second oeuvre by Chef Martin Heirling, who brought Sensi to Bellagio. Ordering room service means a delightful Heirling experience in the suite on a table built for two.

The Vdara Spa is a bi-level affair with a Champagne bar just astride the fitness gym. The spa is small as well for this city – only eleven treatment rooms in a city where spas of more than 100 treatment rooms reside. Guests can rest at the pool deck on the third floor or one of the many sanctuary spaces, such as the heated tile chairs in the wet room or the leather chaises gracing the meditation room – with teas and snacks for healthy distraction. And unlike other spas in town, this spa is open to all visitors and not just guests, and does not charge Vdara guests for use.

While small is beautiful at Vdara, so are the walls. Commissioned art graces this Rafael Viñoly-designed edifice, beginning with the walk to the door. Just outside the hotel, rising from the concrete courtyard of the public walkways is a massive bloom of canoes – a permanent installation by Nancy Rubins called “Big Edge” 2009. The 57-foot by 75- foot sculpture is one of just a few of her pieces that has a permanent home. Behind the reception desk find one of Frank Stella’s most prominent works: “Damascus Gate Variation I,” created in 1969. Crowning the concierge desk is Peter Wegner’s “Day for Night, Night for Day” 2009 made entirely of stacked, colored paper.

A stay at Vdara is not just for the mind. It’s one for the earth. Not only is it entirely non-smoking, its food and beverage program focuses on locally sourced ingredients. The Vdara salon uses paraben-free products and only works with retail partners who share its concern for the environment. The property’s windows are coated to reduce heat transfer into the building by reflecting light. Also, it is estimated that six million gallons of water will be saved each year due to its low flow and recycling systems. Finally, Vdara also features the world’s first fleet of stretch limos powered by compressed natural gas (CNG) — one of the cleanest-burning alternative fuels available.

Contact:

Vdara Hotel & Spa

2600 W. Harmon Ave.

Las Vegas, NV 89109

(866) 745-7767 – Room Reservations

(866) 391-7111 – Spa Reservations

Internet Address – www.vdara.com

Today was a big day for Vegas with the opening of the first hotel, Vdara Hotel & Spa, in the CityCenter complex after five years of development planning and construction.  The development is co-owned by the Las Vegas-based MGM Mirage and Dubai World, the investment arm of the Persian Gulf state.  ”It’s going to be party central around here for a few weeks,” said Jim Murren, CEO of MGM Mirage.

I wonder if they’ll party so hard they fall behind on their debt like Dubai.  By the way, does anyone else find the irony in Dubai’s delinquency when it is a criminal offense for residents to fall into debt?

In other Vegas news, the WSJ reported that Harrah’s is continuing its plan to purchase the Planet Hollywood.  Apparently Harrah’s has been negotiating to acquire more of Planet Hollywood’s $860 million debt, which is in default.

Picture: LV Review Journal

MGM Mirage and Dubai World marked the unveiling of their CityCenter project today with the opening of the luxurious Vdara Hotel and Spa. 

Executives cut the ribbon on the 57-story, 1,495-suite luxury property shortly after 10:30 a.m. today. 

The hotel’s suites come in one- or two-bedroom variations, ranging from 500 square feet to 2,000 square feet, each featuring gourmet kitchens and washer and dryer units among their amenities. 

Other amenities in the non-gaming Vdara Hotel include an 18,000-square-foot spa, Asian fusion restaurant Silk Road and direct access to the Bellagio’s casino floor. 

Vdara has partnered with Vanity Fair for its private grand opening celebration tonight with appearances by actor Orlando Bloom, actress Rosario Dawson and photographer Sebastian Copeland. While VIPs will fill the hotel tonight, Vdara won’t welcome its first public guests until Wednesday evening. 

Following Vdara’s opening will be the unveiling of the high-end retail and entertainment district, Crystals, on Thursday, then the opening of Mandarin Oriental will be Friday. 

CityCenter’s crowning jewel and only gaming property — the 4,004-room Aria Resort and Casino — will round out the month with a Dec. 16 opening. Residential occupancies at Veer Towers will begin January 2010 while the Harmon will open in late 2010.

The cost: $8.5 billion.  The decision: Let it ride- open the doors to the public!  

The much anticipated CityCenter project in Las Vegas- the largest construction project in the U.S. this year – is taking its opening public curtain calls this week.  

Updated Public Opening Schedule: 

Dec. 1 – Vdara Hotel & Spa opens

Dec. 3 – High-end retail shops, entertainment venues open, featuring Crystal

Dec. 4 – Mandarin Oriental luxury hotel opens

Dec. 16 – The project’s centerpiece, Aria Resort & Casino opens 

Since March, Las Vegas Backstage Access has written extensively on the project, covering it from all angles.  Please check out our articles on March 4 & 25; July 13, 16 & 28; Sept. 3, 17 & 25; Oct. 13 & 18; and Nov. 9, 14, 18 & 19.

C’mon over to Las Vegas and check it out!

Ok, so there’s this big thing opening soon in Vegas that rhymes with DittyDenter but if you’re Steve Wynnwhat are you really focusing on these days? Tearing down the front of your less-than-a-year-old hotel, Encore, and building an $80 million beach club.

The Encore Beach Club is set to open this summer and VegasCabbie snapped a pic of the construction that’s currently going on from the outside. Meanwhile, Two Way Hard Three has a pic of the inside. The tentative name of the club will be the Switch Beach Club because of its proximity to the Switch restaurant. But since Switch is a name that alludes to the culinary dinner theater that happens inside the restaurant, we don’t think that name will stick.

It’s also hard for us to even think about summer with the holidays on the horizon but if Wynn is building it, then we will come. If we don’t, there’s always CityCenter. (Burn.)  Via:  Julianna – VegasChatter

SocialiteTravel.com – VIP Nightlife & Travel

Turns out Sin City is far from recession-proof. Citigroup Global Markets analyst Anil Daswani has doubts that MGM Mirage’s latest offering on the Las Vegas Strip, the gargantuan $8.5 billion CityCenter, planned for official opening and much fanfare on Dec. 16, will have tourists racing to plunk down what little cash they have left. 

“With CityCenter to open within a month … we do not believe that CityCenter will successfully drive visitation without incentives,” Daswani said in a note. “In our view, 5,000+ new rooms will be hard to absorb.” 

CityCenter is the largest privately financed development in the U.S. 

However, noting visits to Las Vegas are trending down 7% in 2009 while unemployment levels have now hit double digits, having some of the highest unemployment figures in the U.S., Mr. Daswani is concerned the new building will cannibalize demand from MGM’s existing properties while adding pressure to room rates.

Citi has a “sell” rating for MGM Mirage.

Las Vegas residents and vistors alike finally got some great news– they just may be able to actually see the New Year’s Eve half-million dollars of fireworks displays this year!

Las Vegas Events (LVE) and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) announced late last week that the New Year’s Eve celebration known as America’s Party: Las Vegas New Year 2010 will include a spectacular fireworks show fired from seven rooftop locations along the three-mile stretch of the Las Vegas Strip. 

Although fireworks displays had been launched from the top of Las Vegas Strip hotels since Dec. 31, 2000, the show was launched from resort parking lots and garages last year when new Clark County fire and safety rules tightened regarding rooftop fireworks following the Monte Carlo rooftop fire in January 2008. 

The lower launch point caused the fireworks display last year to not be viewable at many traditional Las Vegas vantage points. 

But, despite the lower aerial displays, last year’s New Year’s Eve still drew nearly 291,000 visitors to the area, include nearly 30,000 downtown, for an nongaming economic impact of $188 million to Las Vegas, according the Las Vegas Visitors Authority.

 The budget for this year’s Las Vegas show, which is funded by the state’s room tax, has reportedly increased by $50,000 to $550,000– not bad for a poor economic year with many residents out of a job. 

The Las Vegas firing locations (from the south, heading north) this year include the following resort properties: MGM Grand, Planet Hollywood, Aria, Caesars Palace, Treasure Island (TI), Venetian and the Stratosphere. 

Fireworks by Grucci of New York will again coordinate the pyrotechnic display. 

The group recently created the spectacular Grand Opening of the Atlantis Hotel and The Palm Jumeirah in Dubai and has executed numerous presidential inaugurations and citywide celebrations.

 Grucci will also do the fireworks for the $8.5 billion CityCenter grand opening planned for Dec. 16 in Las Vegas. 

Michael Green, a history professor at the College of Southern Nevada, said New Year’s Eve fireworks high above the Strip have become part of the fabric of Las Vegas, commenting, “Granting that Las Vegas is still in a lot of economic hurt, the signs are pointing the right way. So maybe the fireworks will give us something to look forward to and up to.”

Is gambling in Las Vegas becoming passé with the advent of new venues? 

Gaming regulators in Las Vegas last Friday granted preliminary licensing approval for the only casino component inside the $8.5 billion CityCenter project and suggested the revenue mix might be sharply different from the traditional gaming-driven environment that has existed since Las Vegas’ creation. 

During a hearing that lasted more than two hours, the Nevada Gaming Control Board was told not to expect additional gaming inside the multiple hotel, high-rise residential and entertainment complex. 

Aria, pictured, CityCenter’s 4,004-room centerpiece, was designed as the project’s only casino. Vdara and Mandarin Oriental are nongaming hotels, and Veer Tower is strictly residential. 

Executives from MGM Mirage and Dubai World, its 50-50 partner in the development, explained the CityCenter concept, using a promotional sales video and previewing Aria’s first television advertisement in what will be a $20 million marketing campaign. 

Gaming is not the focal point of the 67-acre project. The casino at Aria, roughly the size of Bellagio, will have only 145 table games and 1,940 slot machines, half of which will be linked to a server-based gaming platform. 

Aria President Bill McBeath said the casino’s revenue projections are modeled with Bellagio, but the CityCenter casino has fewer slot machines. He said Aria is designed to have private gambling salons like other MGM Mirage high-end casinos, but the rooms will not be used immediately. 

“There will be cross-marketing between the properties,” McBeath said. Aria will host MGM Mirage’s private Chinese New Year party for high-end customers at the MGM Grand, Bellagio and other company resorts. 

McBeath said Aria’s slot machines are projected to produce roughly $320 win per unit per day. 

During MGM Mirage’s quarterly earning conference call with analysts, City Center Chief Executive Officer Bobby Baldwin said Aria would produce $1.2 billion in revenue in 2010. 

“The (revenue) projections are optimistic,” Gaming Control Board Chairman Dennis Neilander said. “But they seem reasonable.” 

The three-member control board then recommended unanimous approval for Aria. The Nevada Gaming Commission will consider the recommendation this week.

As a real-time indicator of how confident American consumers feel about spending their money, earnings of the big casino operators on the Las Vegas Strip haven’t inspired much confidence lately.

In recent weeks, the four largest Strip operators reported third-quarter profits that were lower than those in the second quarter and were even less than what they generated a year earlier, which included a month when the stock market and several investment banks collapsed.

And yet, a growing number of industry executives and analysts believes the market has bottomed and are forecasting a modest rebound in 2010, in part based on evidence that convention groups are more confident about booking rooms next year and signs that year-over-year gambling revenue declines have plateaued on the Strip.

These tentative conclusions come at an especially sensitive time for Las Vegas and the Strip, when CityCenter, the largest and most expensive resort complex in history, opens next month. CityCenter will add more than 6,000 rooms to the market, further testing the theory that new megaresorts create additional demand for Las Vegas rather than simply stealing business from neighbors.

Indeed, some believe the next few months will be better on the Strip, if only because the beginning of the year is a traditionally strong period for conventions and because CityCenter will spark additional traffic to town.

But optimism doesn’t change current reality.

The third quarter wasn’t kind to Harrah’s Entertainment. Its Las Vegas resort earnings fell 25 percent from a year ago and were 18 percent lower than in the second quarter. It wasn’t much better for MGM Mirage, though the company did better than analysts expected, in part from the company’s continued success in filling hotel rooms by keeping rates low. In Las Vegas, MGM’s resort earnings fell only 2 percent from the previous quarter but were 28 percent lower than in the same period a year earlier.

Wynn Resorts’ Las Vegas earnings were in line with the same period a year ago, even after opening its 2,034-room Encore resort in December.

And Las Vegas Sands’ earnings at Venetian and Palazzo fell 53 percent from a year ago, when the Palazzo, which opened in January 2008, had been open a few months.

The third quarter contains two of the slowest business months of the year for Las Vegas, when the summer heat keeps visitors away and prices low. A smaller year-over-year decline in Strip gaming revenue in September than previous months, and a 5 percent increase in Las Vegas visitors in September, are positive signs that the bottom could be near.

October figures, which won’t be available until early next month, may offer a clearer picture, as they will include numbers for a full month by which to compare performance against last year’s sudden collapse of the financial markets.

So far, evidence of a bottoming out trend hasn’t turned up in the form of higher room rates — a big indicator of demand.

MGM Mirage’s Las Vegas properties were among the most highly occupied on the Strip in the third quarter, though at lower rates than some of their competitors at the high end. Overall, the company’s hotel occupancy was 95 percent, same as the year-ago quarter, but at rates that were $31 less, on average.

By comparison, Wynn and Encore combined were 84 percent full compared with 96 percent last year, and at rates that were $62 less, on average. Venetian and Palazzo combined were 88 percent full compared with 93 percent last year, and rates were $46 less, on average. It’s a sign of how far the Strip’s megaresorts have fallen since the boom years, when hotels abandoned the age-old strategy of practically giving away rooms to lure gamblers and embraced a new business model of companywide profit centers.

Many analysts believe CityCenter will complicate the Strip’s recovery by capturing some of the business its resorts would have earned in an improving economy. Real estate broker and casino consultant CB Richard Ellis last week issued a mixed forecast for the Strip: Though hotel revenue will increase by 3 percent to 7 percent next year, from 70 percent to 90 percent of CityCenter’s revenue will be earned at the expense of other properties.

The report said Strip revenue likely would have grown from 2 percent to 4 percent without CityCenter, though, based on stabilizing home prices nationwide and evidence, from the firm’s own survey of meeting planners across the country, that conventions are more likely to book rooms next year.

Executives with MGM Mirage and Las Vegas Sands have recently said their companies are booking more rooms in 2010 for convention groups on the heels of a record bad year for convention business. The convention business could return to pre-recession levels by the second half of 2010 or 2011, which would allow MGM Mirage to significantly boost room rates and company profits, the company said.

On the housing front, CB Richard Ellis casino consultant Jacob Oberman believes that more than 4 percent of Strip revenue during the boom came from people tapping home equity, with an indeterminate amount of additional revenue earned from consumers who felt wealthier and spent more because of inflated home values. Oberman estimates that as much as 10 percent of the Strip’s revenue decline can be attributed to the declining housing market — a trend that, beyond Las Vegas, is playing itself out.

Industry consultant Bill Lerner of Union Gaming Group has a similarly bullish outlook based on an expected 5 percent increase in visitors to Las Vegas atop a 4 percent increase in available hotel rooms — an estimate that assumes that certain rooms won’t be available for rent until later in the year. In that category he includes the under-construction Cosmopolitan and Vdara, a condo-hotel at CityCenter where buyers may be reluctant or unable to close escrow.

“You’re seeing stabilization in the business and that’s underscored by the end of meaningful declines in visitation, smaller declines in gaming revenue and hotel rate declines that aren’t worse than previous quarters,” Lerner said.

Other analysts aren’t so sure, and point to longer-range problems such as airline capacity cuts, high unemployment and weak convention attendance.

While average Americans and their employers still suffer in the recession, Strip casinos may get some help from hard-core gamblers — including customers from China and Hong Kong, where the economy is stronger and gambling has a stronger cultural hold.

Source Las Vegas Sun

CityCenter named best commercial project of 2009 by Forrest Stewardship Council-US

LAS VEGAS – November 13, 2009 – The Forest Stewardship Council-US (FSC-US®) has honored CityCenter as the best commercial project of 2009 in the fifth annual Designing & Building with FSC Awards. The awards recognize entities that are committed to using sustainably harvested wood and creating a marketplace that promotes environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable forest management. CityCenter’s dedication to the use of FSC-certified wood products is unprecedented in scale and resulted in a significant market transformation.

“We are honored to be recognized as this year’s top commercial project,” said Cindy Ortega, senior vice president of MGM MIRAGE’s Energy and Environmental Services.  “Sustainability has been at the forefront of every design and construction decision for CityCenter, and due to our high demand for responsibly harvested FSC-certified wood, numerous local companies have transformed their business practices, thereby opening channels for future sustainable projects.”

Due to its size and buying power, construction of the 18-million-square-foot CityCenter development expanded the local and domestic FSC wood supply markets, which will serve to open channels to future projects interested in purchasing FSC-certified wood.

CityCenter is a joint venture between MGM MIRAGE (NYSE: MGM) and Infinity World Development Corp, a subsidiary of Dubai World. Created with a vision to bring a new level of environmental consciousness to the world-famous Strip, CityCenter will be one of the world’s largest sustainable developments upon opening this December, from design and construction to operations and guest amenities. An extraordinary urban resort destination brought to life by eight world-renowned architects, the urban resort destination already has achieved four LEED® Gold certifications for ARIA Resort’s hotel tower, ARIA’s convention center and theater, Vdara Hotel & Spa, and Crystals retail and entertainment district. CityCenter is poised to achieve a combination of LEED Gold and Silver ratings throughout its remaining elements including Las Vegas’ first Mandarin Oriental and Veer Towers,  the community’s only, strictly residential buildings; and The Harmon (opening late 2010), a 400-room luxury boutique hotel.  CityCenter is driving green economies of scale in multiple industry segments, paving the way for other entities to build and operate sustainably

Cirque du Soleil has announced the title for its new show based on the life and music of Elvis Presley: Viva Elvis. 

The production, to be directed by choreographer Vincent Paterson, will take up residence at the new Aria Resort & Casino in the brand spanking new $8.5 billion CityCenter in Las Vegas, beginning performances on December 18. 

Tickets are not yet on sale but the show will open for media previews in December. 

The show will fuse dance and acrobatics, live music and iconic tracks, nostalgia and modernity, high technology and raw emotion. 

While he is most famous for his collaborations with Madonna and Michael Jackson, Paterson has also worked in the performing arts. In 2006, he staged a ’50s style revival of Massenet’s Manon for Los Angeles Opera. 

Cirque du Soleil currently has numerous shows already in Las Vegas, including O, LOVE, Ka, Zumanity, and Mystere. 

The company is also currently touring its Allegria show; recently opened its new show Ovo in Toronto; and another new show, Banana Shpeel, begins performances in Chicago this month and will then play New York.

Time is getting close for the long-awaited opening of extravagant and opulent Las Vegas entertainment and retail businesses galore.    Not just ordinary businesses, but the most haute and opulent on the planet!

If you ever wanted to know what it’s like to be up close and personal with $8.5 billion of opulent entertainment and retail establishments, then don’t miss out this December when CityCenter gradually opens up in Las Vegas. 

With the economy tanking and only slowing recovering, most experts agree that further business casino and hotel developments down the Las Vegas Strip or adjoining properties will be on a hiatus for at least five years, more likely 10 years. 

Las Vegas Backstage Access has written on the many unique CityCenter planned developments, but now has further updates to share.   As casino area slots are being tested, finishing touches are being applied at the Aria casino-hotel tower.   

Some restaurants are on the second floor at Aria, near Elvis Theater, or located in The Crystals, the nearby 500,000-square-foot retail, entertainment and dining district- a city within a city. 

Oversize Elvis belt buckles cover the exterior of Cirque du Soleil’s Elvis Theater.  Reportedly, a “big splash” for this is planned for Jan. 8, which would have been Elvis’ 74th birthday. 

In terms of artwork, there is Maya Lin’s depiction of the Colorado River made out of recycled silver.    Henry Moore’s woman and child reclining is also auspicious, purchased for about $5 million and now worth about $7.5 million– that’s just some of the $40 million spent on CityCenter’s artwork. 

A prominent attraction at The Crystals, is Mastro’s Ocean Club, which is housed in a “tree house,” over the main floor, the 14-foot ice sculpture that magically re-form after a 90 percent meltdown and CityCenter’s version of Rome’s Spanish Steps. 

There is something for everyone at CityCenter.  It will surely be the Las Vegas center of attention for a very long time.

Developers of the $8.5 billion CityCenter on the Las Vegas Strip plan a 30 percent price cut on condos there that people have already agreed to buy, just help close the deals during the recession. 

Company officials announced that CityCenter, co-owned by MGM Mirage and Dubai World, will begin closing on the nearly 2,400 units that have been built in two boutique hotels and two residential towers in January at the reduced prices. More than half of the units are under contract. The price cut roughly parallels the decline in Nevada’s real estate market since the units first went on sale in January 2007. 

The price reductions apply to the 227 units at Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas, the 670 units at the Veer Towers and the nearly 1,500 condo units at the 57-story Vdara Condo Hotel. 

A typical one-bedroom unit of about 800 square feet at the Vdara is now selling for about $674,000, according to an analysis by Bill Lerner of Union Gaming Group. 

Other parts of the 67-acre project include a 4,000-room casino-resort, convention space, hotels and a retail mall. The project is to start opening in December. 

Several casino industry analysts said MGM Mirage and Dubai World, the development arm of the government of Dubai, one of the United Arab Emirates, had to make such a move to close real estate sales in a down market that has been particularly tough in Las Vegas. 

Lerner said in late August that the 30 percent price reductions would bring the Vdara’s prices in line with those at the Trump International Hotel down the street and the nearby Palms Place condo-hotel located 1.5 miles west of the Strip. 

Lerner said MGM Mirage might begin pushing those who have committed to buying units at Vdara toward Veer instead. 

CityCenter was originally supposed to have 200 more condo and condo-hotel units atop the Harmon, but that plan was scrapped when developers delayed the opening of the 400-room hotel portion to 2010.

Over at the tech blog Technology Report we’ll have a lot of coverage leading up to and through the CES 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

A big thanks to the Aria Resort and Casino and Vdara Hotel.  These amazing new properties in the  Las Vegas CITYCENTER Project are sponsoring our CES 2010 coverage this year and into the show in January.

Aria will open in December and along with the Mandarin Oriental Hotel the Aria will feature the world’s most advanced guestroom technology along with CityCenter’s incredible WiFi footprint that covers the entire campus with broadband thanks to thousands of antennas and WiFi access points.

Over at Technology Report I’m going to feature a “First Timers Guide to CES” focused on people who have never been there and also some tips on how to find out the party and event schedules.   CES is one of the world’s largest conferences and even in these troubled economic times I’m sure that Las Vegas will be rockin’ with some amazing technology and events at the January 2010 CES.

For more about this please head over to Technology Report’s CES 2010 coverage, starting …. now!

Tiffany & Co. announced design details of its soon-to-be-opened store at CityCenter in Las Vegas Strip. The new two-level store will face Las Vegas Boulevard and will be located in Crystals, CityCenter’s 500,000-square-foot retail and entertainment district designed by Studio Daniel Libeskind and Rockwell Group, which features a crystalline canopy. 

Slated for a December opening, the approximately 10,000-square-foot store features an 85-foot-high glass façade that is canted slightly over the street and shaped like a diamond. The façade incorporates the store’s entrance of polished black granite framing deco-inspired stainless steel doors, and serves as a great window that reveals the store’s interior with its spiral steel and glass staircase and curved, multi-layered ceiling.

In just three short months, the world will be introduced to CityCenter in Las Vegas. An extraordinary urban resort destination brought to life by eight world-renowned architects, CityCenter will debut a new era of resort experiences with an ambition to refine and redefine Las Vegas. 

Conceived to bring a true center to The Strip, CityCenter will be much more than a collection of resorts and residences; it will rather be a true community – a welcoming environment for people to gather, relax and enjoy. Great pedestrian corridors, dynamic public spaces, authentic richness and diversity of experiences will voke the energy of the world’s most exciting places. 

CityCenter’s public Fine Art Collection will enliven the street and engage passersby. As if in a trolling gallery, guests will happen upon works by world-renowned artists such as Maya Lin or Nancy Rubins as they wander through CityCenter’s walkways, hotels and residences. 

Upon opening, CityCenter will be one of the largest sustainable developments in existence, bringing a new level of environmental consciousness to the world-famous Strip. The U.S. Green Building Council already has awarded Gold LEED(R) certification to ARIA’s hotel tower, convention center and theater; as well as Vdara Hotel. CityCenter’s remaining venues are poised to receive a combination of Silver and Gold LEED(R) ratings.

(Prior to this, Las Vegas Backstage Access has written many articles on specific venues.  Please use the search feature to find under, “CityCenter.”) 

CITYCENTER’S GRAND OPENING SCHEDULE: 

    –  Vdara Hotel – December 1, 2009

    –  Crystals retail and entertainment district – December 3, 2009

    –  Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas – December 4, 2009

    –  ARIA Resort & Casino – December 16, 2009

    –  The Harmon – Late 2010 

Residential occupancies slated to begin mid-January 2010.

Sadly, with most of the fine art style of Las Vegas museums closing up shop– Las Vegas culture — including the Guggenheim Hermitage Museum at the Venetian and Las Vegas Art Museum, and lesser robust ones opening by appointment only, it’s refreshing to know the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art is apparently still going strong. 

Tomorrow, in fact, the Bellagio Gallery is debuting 12+7: Artists and Architects of CityCenter.   Organized in partnership with the CityCenter Fine Art Collection and its curatorial advisor Michele C. Quinn, the exhibition will feature sculpture, drawings, paintings and models by 12 of the contemporary artists and seven of the master architects whose work will dramatically change the artistic landscape in Las Vegas when the $9.1 billion, 76-acre CityCenter opens in December (please search for other articles using “CityCenter” in Las Vegas Backstage Access). 

The art exhibition will offer a sneak peek at the highly anticipated CityCenter development, showcasing artwork by such artists as Maya Lin, Jenny Holzer, Antony Gormley, Tony Cragg, Nancy Rubins, Peter Wegner and Richard Long. 

Also included are early sketches and architectural models of CityCenter’s towers, retail and the entertainment district designed by architects Pelli Clarke Pelli, Helmut Jahn, Studio Daniel Libeskind, Rafael Vinoly, Kohn Pedersen Fox, Foster + Partners and Rockwell Group. 

Admission is $15 for general admission, $12 for Nevada residents and seniors 65 and older, and $10 for students, teachers and military with valid ID.  Children 12 and younger are free.  Tickets and further information by calling 702-693-7871 or online at www.bellagio.com

Mandarin Oriental, prominently situated at the entrance of CityCenter in Las Vegas, will introduce the award-winning cuisine of three-star Michelin Chef Pierre Gagnaire at the luxury hotel’s signature restaurant, Twist by Pierre Gagnaire.

Opening in December 2009, Twist will be Gagnaire’s first restaurant in the United States. The innovative menu will infuse the simplicity of classic French cuisine with a modern spin, relying on a pairing of flavors and textures for which Gagnaire is known.

In a distinguished career that spans more than 35 years, Gagnaire has gained the highest acclaim for his restaurants in Paris, London, Tokyo, Seoul, Dubai and his namesake restaurant, “Pierre” at Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong. 

Gagnaire is well-known for being at the forefront of the fusion movement. Beginning his career in St. Etienne, Gaganaire won three Michelin Stars and tore at the conventions of classic French cooking by introducing radical juxtapositions of tastes and textures. His influence on cooking has been recognized worldwide. 

Las Vegas Backstage Access will provide you a spot or feature article and/or professional photography for this or any of the many new venues opening in CityCenter this December for your publication.  If interested, please provide comment to this article or newsletter/contact tab and we will get back to you.