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CityCenter
The most expensive privately funded construction project in U.S. History.

The first phase of MGM MIRAGE's CityCenter, a gargantuan, $8.4-billion, 68-acre project, is under construction on the Las Vegas Strip between Bellagio and Monte Carlo.  Phase two will eventually occupy the space behind and between Monte Carlo and New York New York.  The Boardwalk Hotel was demolished along with a few local businesses to make room for this immense project.  Harmon Road will meander through CityCenter and cross I-15 via an already completed bridge.  

CityCenter will be an ultra modern, urban environment with nicely hidden parking structures. The project will be a mini-city with its own Fire Station, an on-site power plant, and lots of pedestrian space. CityCenter has achieved LEED certification for the project as outlined by the U.S. Green Building Council.

With its focus on art, city center will be host to some of the worlds most renowned sculpture artists, including  by Maya Lin, Jenny Holzer, Claes Oldenburg, Coosje van Bruggen, Nancy Rubins, Frank Stella, Henry Moore and Richard Long.
 

NOTE: All older renderings and model-shots
have been removed from this page by
the request of MGM MIRAGE.
Sorry, folks.

Latest Approved Renderings
© 2007 Project CC, LLC. Unauthorized use of the images, artist renderings,
plans or other depictions of CityCenter is strictly prohibited.
 

     
3/6/08   New Renderings of Vdara's Interior
 

       
                                     
                                     

                                       
        The Harmon                                                                                                       Vdara
 

The current inventory (with the respective architect) consists of:    

- 4,000-room 60-story CityCenter Resort and Casino (Cesar Pelli)
- 165,000-square-foot casino (Pelli)
- 400-room + 227 condos - Mandarin Oriental Hotel/Residences (Pedersen / Tihany)
- 400-room + 207 condos - The Harmon Hotel/Residences (Foster and Partners)
- 1543-unit Vdara Condo/Hotel tower (Rafael Viñoly)
- Twin, 337-unit luxury condo towers Veer (Helmut Jahn)
- 500,000 square feet of retail and entertainment space (Daniel Libeskind)
- $40 million worth of modern sculptures and installations by world famous artists
- 225,000 square feet of convention and meeting space
- 900,000 square feet for back-of-house operations
- 2,000-seat theater
- 70,000-square-foot spa
- 7,500-car parking garage
- Fire station
- People movers (trams)
- On-site power plant

CityCenter will have a 1/4-mile Strip frontage. The project's center will be 60-story casino/resort with 4,000-rooms, designed by world renowned architect Cesar Pelli.  There will be plenty of glitz in the form of light shows projected against building facades and plenty of Times Square style neon. Reports from MGM MIRAGE state that a new Cirque du Soleil show, called Elvis, will premiere at the CityCenter Resort on opening day.

8,000 construction workers and 39 cranes will be on site at the peak of construction.
The project will create 12,000 new permanent positions when it opens.

CityCenter is expected to open phase-one in November of 2009 and is currently the single most expensive privately funded project in the western hemisphere.
 

CityCenter News and Views

What a difference three years make

6/2005      -      5/2008

3/18/08  Why is construction at the Harmon Hotel going slower than the other towers at CityCenter?

The 6th floor of the tower will house a club and the pool. Pools require some time to complete and a lot of heavy water circulation and heating equipment. Once the pool is complete, the tower will rise quickly.

Here's a quick look at the modern design
of the monorail stations at CityCenter

The photo (left) 8/5/07 by Mark Diederichsen, shows
the power plant at CityCenter. Siemens has designed
and is building the energy plant to help power and
cool CityCenter. The power plant was necessary
in order for CityCenter to achieve LEED (green) certification.

Facade mock-ups of Veer and Mandarin
for testing. Click images to enlarge

Hey, let's build three buildings for $64 million, use them for three years, then tear 'em down

Everything about CityCenter is oversized. The "construction trailer" (right) is a two-building, $40-million complex (located behind New York New York). It was built to bring together the team of some of the best architects, bean counters, contractors and artists in the world, but after CityCenter construction is complete, they will be demolished to make way for "Phase Two".




This photo taken by Mark Diederichsen, shows City Center's $24-million Sales Center. This Structure is on the Strip between New York New York and Monte Carlo. This is the world's second most expensive temporary building. When its no longer needed, it will be destroyed to make room for a residential condo tower, designed to tie in nicely with the New York buildings on its south border.

Older news is at the bottom of this page

CityCenter Construction Photos

Shot from Paris' Eiffel Tower, Laura P. Thomas captures
this shot of CityCenter and Cosmopolitan
Photo 5/6/08

The north side of Veer East and Veer West (far left)
The Crystals Mall (left)
Photos 5/5/08 by Clint Bautz

Veer West gets its first glass
Photo 5/4/08 by Scott Becker

Looking east from the Palms - CityCenter and Panorama
dominate the skyline with a "wall of glass"
Photo 4/20/08 by Mark Diederichsen

Two street-level shots show The Harmon on the rise and
"The Crystals" mall filling in (far left). The mandarin beauty-shot (near left)
Photos 4/10/08 by Matthew Nunley

A View from the Eiffel Tower 4/7/08
photos by Miguel Villegas

We can see: Mandarin - up to the 34th floor, the roofing on The Crystals Mall, The Harmon - up to 8 floors, Veer East - up to 11 floors, Veer West - up to 17 floors,  CityCenter proper - on the 44th floor, Vdara - up to the 50th floor, Cosmopolitan - working on the 18th floor, and Panorama Tower III - almost topped-out.
 

CityCenter Tour

(top row left to right)
overall view
close up of The Crystals Mall

(center row left to right)
Mandarin Oriental
CityCenter Resort/Veer/The Crystals
The Harmon Vdara

(bottom)
close-up of Veer/The Crystals

Photos 3/10/08 by Aaron Auxier

A nice close up of Veer, shows the unusual supports
for this leaning tower.   Photo 3/5/08 by Daniel Kruszka

From left to right (top)
- Pools being formed
- Looking east (cosmopolitan in the center)

(bottom)
- Looking north (cosmopolitan on the left)
- The Cirque du Soleil theater
Photos 3/5/08 by Aaron Auxier

Building a leaning tower (far left), Veer West is finally growing - 10 Floors and counting. Vdara and the main CityCenter resort (near left) have reached about 2/3 of their eventual height and are already much taller than the neighboring resorts. Photos 2/23/08 by Mark Diederichsen

Mandarin Oriental filling-in (far left and center).
The Crystals Mall getting closer to the Strip (near left).
Photos 2/17/08 by Holomeus

The Mandarin Oriental hotel is looking great (near right)
A look between the Crystals Mall and The Harmon
with Vdara in the background (far right)
Photos 12/16/07 by Mark Diederichsen

Vdara shot from the employee's garage,
photo 11/3/07 by Scott Becker

Casey Pierce captures some close shots of the
main resort (right) and Vdara (far right)
on 11/3/07 

CityCenter proudly rising into view
as it breaches the heights of neighboring
resorts. This is a great (right time, right place)
shot from Mark Diederichsen taken 10/18/07 

Veer (near right) is finally picking up speed. The engineering for a leaning tower like this, requires a much more complex foundation. This will be an interesting one to watch.  A nice vantage point (far right) from behind Monte Carlo, shows the main CityCenter hotel beginning to take a commanding stance.
 Photos 10/15/07 by Aaron Auxier.

The photo (far left) shows the overall project
growing quickly. Mandarin Oriental (near left) up to the 15th floor.
Photos 10/11/07 by Charlie Shen

The Mandarin Oriental gets if first glass
Photo 10/10/07 by Mark Diederichsen

From the parking lot at Rio, one could clearly see
New York New York, Monte Carlo and MGM Grand.
Now it's all CityCenter.
Photo 10/04/07 by Davy Ligneel

CityCenter rising above the rest (in more ways than one)
Photos 10/1/07 by Aaron Auxier

Four shots of CityCenter taken
9/10/07 by yours truly, Mark Adams

Scott Becker captures a nice
view of Vdara and its various
glass colors. Photo 9/3/07

Three shots 9/1/07 by Aaron Auxier of VegasCondoScene.com, show Veer with monorail, the parking garage and The Harmon finally taking shape.

First shots of the main monorail station. Photos by Aaron Auxier 8/20/07

 Vdara looking great in these
photos by Aaron Auxier
taken 8/20/07

CityCenter Rising
This beautiful shot, 8/16/07 by Mark Diederichsen,
captures CityCenter with a dramatic sky, at sunset.
You can see (under construction, from left to right)
Cosmopolitan, Vdara, CityCenter resort and Panorama
 tower three. Thanks, Mark

Photos 7/13/07 shot from Panorama towers by Aaron Auxier, shows the progression looking east.  Vdara (right) is looking sharp and bumping elbows with Cosmopolitan

This site is filling so fast, it's difficult to tell what's what.
Composite photo (left)
7/30/07 by Mark Adams.

The photo (above) taken by Chad Rayfield from the Monte Carlo looking north, shows the center of the site.

The photos (left) taken by Brock Harrington, show details from the same perspective.

Cirque Theater                       Pool Area                          Main Resort          

Monorail/Veer/Mall

Looking shiny, this photo shows the
south side CityCenter's main resort
Photo 7/24/07 by Pete Kokkinis

Glass on Vdara (looking good)
Photo 7/1/07 by Scott Becker

The Mandarin Oriental at CityCenter
is taking shape.
Photo 06/18/07 by Aaron Auxier

The main CityCenter tower is up to 20 floors with four floors of glass

Vdara is up to 12 floors
Photos 6/17/07
by Aaron Auxier

Nice overview shot shows the strip-side
of this massive project.
Photo 5/27/07 by Mark Diederichsen

Everyone gets a corner room at
CityCenter. Architect Cesar Pelli uses a
saw-tooth design which gives each room two views.
Photo 5/22/07 by Mark Diederichsen

Vdara is rising quickly
Photo 5/21/07 by Scott Becker

Two twilight shots of CityCenter show
the progress as of 5/17/07
Photos by Aaron Auxier
Click to enlarge

This way and that, the odd angles of Veer towers east
and west can be seen clearly, Photo 5/10/07 by Aaron Auxier
Click image to enlarge

Veer Angle Revealed

These two photos by Aaron Auxier show an unusual
construction technique, tall rebar columns rising about
five stories above the single story Veer west tower.
The photo (far right) shows the angle of this leaning building
Photos 4/08/07     Click images to enlarge 

Mandarin (left) is shaping up and Vdara (right) is getting a fourth floor. Photos 4/17/07 by Mark Diederichsen

A composite of three photos
make a good panoramic of CityCenter,
Cosmopolitan and Bellagio. 
Photos 4/12/07 by Dennis Furniss

On the northeast corner of the project
(on the strip) the last high-rise to get
started is THE Harmon hotel
photo 4/8/07 by Mark Diederichsen

First shot of the main resort's glass.
Photo 4/4/07 by Mark Diederichsen
shows the glass is not mirrored, it's transparent.
The transparency is not evident due to
the reflections in this photo.

Close-up of the main resort tower
shows a saw-toothed edge which, if my guess is
correct, would give each room two views.
Photo 3/20/07 by Mark Diederichsen
Click image to enlarge

Nine floors down, 51 to go
photo by Mark Diederichsen
02/06/07   Click image to enlarge

Photo 1/9/07 shows work on the retail building in front and the main tower up to the eighth floor. Panorama Towers, in the background, are almost done.

Click image to enlarge 

Construction photo 11/29/06 by Don Pacho, shows the intersecting curves of the main hotel building. The elevator core will be an island surrounded by curved hallways.

Click image to enlarge 

Construction photo 11/17/06 taken by Mark Diederichsen shows the Mandarin Oriental Hotel's foundation work under way while the main resort rises quickly in the background.

Click image to enlarge 

Construction photo 10/12/06 taken by Scott Pinkerton. The center section has reached the fourth level. The complex shape of the behemoth can clearly be seen.

Click image to enlarge 

Construction photo 09/29/06. Working on the third floor
 

Construction photo 8/11/06, revels the shape and size of the main hotel tower which is already up to the third floor. Also in the shot; Panorama Towers topped out and work on the Cosmopolitan's very complex foundation and underground parking.

This groundbreaking day photo shows the foundation for the main hotel being poured on Monday, 6/25/06.
Click image to enlarge.

CityCenter - Older News and Views

1/30/07 The Ever-Changing Pedestrian Bridge

As it is with every project, changes are a fact of life.
The original, oval design (below left) for the pedestrian bridge
(linking CityCenter, Cosmopolitan and Planet Hollywood) looked great,
but was impractical. The redesigned, curved-cross (below center)
was an improvement, yet still created longer walks for the sake
of design. The final design (left and below right) is uninspired, but
practical.

9/15/05   MGM Announces Architects, Reveals Updated Model

It's on; MGM MIRAGE is moving forward with their Project CityCenter.  This will not be a cookie-cutter theme-park design, as was typical for Vegas in the 90's. This will be unlike any other project on this planet. At over $8 billion, this is the most expensive privately funded project in U.S. history.

For starters, MGM MIRAGE has enlisted a top drawer list of architects for the 66 acre project - Rafael Viñoly, Lord Norman Foster, Art Gensler, James Cheng, Cesar Pelli and Kohn Pedersen Fox.  Each will be designing various parts of the project - Each is told to design with limitless boundaries, exploring unique and modern ideas. They (the architects) will also work with each other to meld the ideas into one cohesive plan.  Art Gensler is the managing architect for the whole project.

News 06/25/06 MGM Announces Construction of CityCenter

It's now official, CityCenter in under construction. The foundation for the main hotel was poured on Monday, 6/25/06. A few changes, which are visible in the photo of the new model include a new design for the Mandarin Oriental Hotel and the shape of the main shopping area. The two buildings in the center are  leaning (slightly) in opposite directions.  New renderings are expected soon. When completed in 2009, the project will employ over 12,000 people.
 

8/12/05  First Step, New Parking Structure to Clear Lot

The majority of the property on which CityCenter (CC) will sit, was at one time the Dunes golf course. MGM MIRAGE has been using this as an employee parking lot for its Bellagio Employees. So, in order to clear away the cars, a new parking garage is under construction in the back of the CC land (near I-15 and close to the Bellagio).

CVS Stranglehold 

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has noticed this, but it's never been mentioned in any article regarding CityCenter (CC).  Every rendering and model shows the CVS Pharmacy site (which is nestled between the Monte Carlo and CC) intact.  Although I have not confirmed this, it seems that CVS won't sell to the MGM/Mirage monster.

CVS purchased the 0.83 acres in March, 2002 for $4 million. Based on the $25 million per acre that strip property is now worth, this parcel is worth at least $20 million, which would be a nice profit for CVS and a spit-in-the-bucket for MGM MIRAGE.  I know MGM wants this piece to fill out the CC project.  Sales must be pretty great for CVS to hold on to this coveted site.  Maybe MGM MIRAGE will offer CVS a reduced rent, prime location within CC in exchange for the property. Time will tell.

 

 

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