- The Cosmopolitan Resort & Casino
:"For other uses, see:
Cosmopolitan (disambiguation) ."The Cosmopolitan Resort & Casino is a
resort casino and condo that broke ground in October 2005 just south of the Bellagio on the west side of theLas Vegas Strip . When it opens in mid-2009, the $3.9 billion project will feature 2,200 condominium-hotel units; 800 hotel rooms; a convert|75000|sqft|m2|-2|abbr=on casino; convert|300000|sqft|m2|-4|abbr=on ofretail andrestaurant space; a convert|40000|sqft|m2|-3|abbr=on spa and fitness facility; an 1,800 seat theater; and convert|150000|sqft|m2|-3|abbr=on of meeting/convention space.The themed glass wall of the podium and the curtain wall, designed by
Arquitectonica andJean-Pierre Kocher , is manufactured by a Hong Kong Based firm,Far East Group . The hotel and casino will be managed byGlobal Hyatt Corporation , with the hotel opening as the Grand Hyatt Las Vegas.The Cosmopolitan Resort, along with the Palazzo hotel, are the first of Las Vegas's new generation of full service ultra-compact resorts. Both of these resorts, due to limited land, will feature an underground parking garage over which the hotel itself will be built.
Jockey Club
The resort is being built on what used to be a small parking lot for a nearby midrise
timeshare building called the Jockey Club, which has existed for several decades. As The Cosmopolitan will use up all of the parking area for Club residents, part of the agreement was that they will be allowed to use a portion of the Cosmopolitan's underground parking garage. The Cosmopolitan will therefore nearly completely enclose the southern portion of the Club. The Cosmopolitan developers will "decorate" the otherwise bland northern wall a bit with some type of graphic design in order to appease the residents in those south facing areas.Construction
The project was begun by developer
3700 Associates, LLC , headed byIan Bruce Eichner . The resort's underground parking needed to be completed first before any above ground structures could proceed due to the resort's ultra-compact design which allows it to make the most efficient use of its limited land. Although The Cosmopolitan sits directly north of CityCenter, which is also under construction, it is an independent project and is not connected in any way to the $9.2 billion development. As of December 2007, work has just finished on the convert|70|ft|m|0|sing=on hole for the parking structure and foundation work is in progress.In January 2008, it was reported that the $3.9 billion project faced foreclosure, as Eichner's company defaulted on a $760 million construction loan from
Deutsche Bank when the developer missed a payment after failing to secure refinancing for the project. Construction still moved forward as the developers searched for new financing to bail out the project. In late February 2008, Global Hyatt Corporation and New York-based Marathon Asset Management agreed to recapitalize the condominium-hotel project.Arnold M. Knightly, [http://www.lvrj.com/business/16067872.html DEVELOPMENT: Project saved by pair's aid] , "Las Vegas Review-Journal", February 28, 2008.] In March, 2008, the developer saidDeutsche Bank AG would begin foreclosure proceedings [ [http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120554452781938671.html?mod=googlenews_wsj Foreclosure on Las Vegas Casino to Begin] ] .In August 2008, it was announced that
MGM Mirage ,Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide ,Hyatt andHilton were considering purchasing the troubled property. [http://www.onlinecasinoadvisory.com/casino-news/land/cosmopolitan-casino-may-go-to-mgm-1888.htm] MGM Mirage would integrate the project with their Bellagio and CityCenter developments, Starwood is rumored to turn the property into the new W Las Vegas (following the failure of the previous W project due to rises in construction costs) and The St Regis Las Vegas, Hyatt would maintain its original plans of opening the Grand Hyatt Las Vegas on the site, and Hilton might revive its Conrad plans (also following the failure of the Conrad-Majestic Las Vegas plan on the northern strip).Notes
References
* 'Cosmo says hello:Guests see model of condo-hotel', Howard Stutz, "Las Vegas Review-Journal", October 26, 2005.
External links
* [http://www.cosmolv.com/ The Cosmopolitan web site]
* [http://www.vegastodayandtomorrow.com/cosmopolitan.htm Cosmopolitan - Vegas Today and Tomorrow]
* [http://www.latimes.com/extras/newhomes/urbanliving/cosmo_lasvegas.html LA Times article]
* [http://maps.google.com/?ll=36.110022,-115.17531&spn=0.001807,0.003616&t=k&om=1 Google Local Aerial Image of The Cosmopolitan Site]
* [http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080116/cosmopolitan_foreclosure.html?.v=4 Vegas Casino Project Facing Foreclosure]
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