Development:

The future of Las Vegas: See what’s coming on the Strip in 2015

MGM Resorts International

An artist’s rendering of MGM Resorts International’s project the Park, which will connect New York-New York and Monte Carlo with an eight-acre outdoor experience.

2014 was a big year for development on the Strip, as a number of big resorts and attractions — including SLS Las Vegas, the Cromwell and the Linq promenade — opened their doors.

Next year isn't expected to bring any big new brands like that to the resort corridor, but 2015 development will be important in other, perhaps more subtle, ways. Several projects that are changing the Strip’s physical dynamic will finish or edge closer to completion.

The mix of tourism attractions will continue shifting more toward nongaming — in some cases even outdoorsy — spaces. Brent Pirosch, director of gaming consulting at CBRE’s Global Gaming Group, said that was especially true coming on the heels of already-opened attractions like the Linq and the Rio ziplines.

“It’s not CityCenter, it’s not Encore in terms of development dollars, but in terms of driving visitation and setting Las Vegas apart from every other gaming jurisdiction in the world, then yeah, I do find it pretty exciting,” Pirosch said about next year on the Strip. “These things we’ve been seeing have been right in that kill zone. Are they subtle? Yeah, but they’re also exciting in the things they’re trying to do and the customers they’re trying to attract.”

Here’s a look at how the Strip’s biggest projects are predicted to progress next year.

    • An artist's rendering shows Grand Bazaar Shops, an outdoor mall on the Strip.  Construction on the Grand Bazaar Shops began the week of Dec. 2, 2013, and it is scheduled to open outside Bally’s in fall 2014.

      Grand Bazaar Shops

      Target completion date: Early 2015

      The project: If you’ve spent any time around the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard South and Flamingo Road recently, you’ve probably noticed a lot of construction in front of Bally’s. That’s going to wrap up very soon, as the Grand Bazaar Shops are almost ready to open.

      Touted as an “outdoor shopping mecca,” the shops are supposed to emulate the “essence and excitement” of other famous open-air markets like Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar, London’s Portobello Road and Seattle’s Pike Place Market. The complex will include about 150 shops on two acres of land, a multicolored rooftop design and a “giant crystal starburst that creates a celebratory New Year’s Eve experience every midnight,” according to the project’s website.

      A spokesperson for the project said it’s in the final stages of construction.

      Pirosch said he’ll be keeping a close eye on the shops’ performance.

      “I think that’ll be a continuation of the trend that’s pushing things more outside, making things more social, more see-and-be-seen kind of development on the Strip, which is far different from the way it’s been historically,” he said.

    • “City of Rock”

      Target completion date: Spring 2015

      The project: MGM Resorts International is teaming up with Cirque du Soleil to create a new open air concert venue for Rock in Rio, a major two-weekend music festival coming to Las Vegas in May. The site is right across Las Vegas Boulevard from SLS Las Vegas on the North Strip, an area that’s ripe for more development.

      The 33-acre site is expected to accommodate a daily capacity of 80,000 people viewing acts on five stages. It’s called “City of Rock” for the Rock in Rio festival, but the venue will be a permanent one.

      MGM Resorts President Bill Hornbuckle said when the project was announced that outside of Rock in Rio, the venue can be “stripped down” for other activities like sporting events, another type of music festival or a big food festival.

    • Mandalay Bay Convention Center expansion

      Target completion date: Fall 2015 (first phase)

      The project: Mandalay Bay already boasts one of the premier convention sites in convention-heavy Las Vegas, and it’s poised to become even larger. According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, Mandalay Bay is adding 350,000 square feet of exhibition space and 70,000 square feet of ballroom space.

      Mandalay Bay currently has 1.7 million gross square feet of meeting and exhibition space.

      Some of the exhibition space will be available starting in August of next year, and all of the new space will be completed in early 2016, MGM Resorts spokeswoman Jenn Michaels said in an email.

      Pirosch called the Mandalay Bay project a “big bet” on the strength of the Las Vegas convention market, which he said hasn’t fully recovered from the economic downturn.

    • An artist’s rendering of the outdoor venues at MGM Resorts International’s project the Park, which will connect New York-New York and Monte Carlo with an eight-acre outdoor experience.

      The Park & Arena

      Target completion date: Spring 2016

      The project: MGM Resorts is creating an open-air, pedestrian-friendly shopping and entertainment area connecting its New York-New York and Monte Carlo resorts. It’ll also connect the resorts to the 20,000-seat arena MGM and AEG are building in the same area.

      “Beautiful public places are highlights of many of the world’s finest cities, and Las Vegas shouldn’t be the exception,” said MGM CEO Jim Murren in an April statement about the project. “The Park will be the first of its kind on the Las Vegas Strip ... To create this picturesque outdoor destination, we are literally taking down the walls and opening the doors at our resorts to develop a unique dining and entertainment district that complements its lush new surroundings.”

      Both projects are in the works, so expect them to look much closer to their final forms by the end of next year as they prepare for a spring 2016 opening. Michaels said she couldn’t say whether they would open at the exact same time, but “definitely in the same general window.”

    • Resorts World Las Vegas

      Target completion date: 2016 or 2017

      The project: It’s probably the most significant but also most elusive planned development on the Strip. Malaysia-based Genting Berhad announced in March 2013 it planned to build a sprawling, brand-new resort on the former Echelon and Stardust site on the North Strip.

      Walk past the site now and you’ll see ads teasing the planned Resorts World Las Vegas, but little else aside from the skeleton Boyd Gaming Group began building before it abandoned the Echelon project. If Resorts World comes to fruition, it will be the first brand new resort on the Strip since the Cosmopolitan opened in 2010 — others that have opened since then have been renovations of old properties.

      The LVCVA’s construction bulletin, last updated in June, has Resorts World slated for a fall 2017 opening, but other projections have said it could be open at least in part sometime in 2016. In any case, not much visible movement has happened. Pirosch said that construction would need to start in the beginning of next year in order to make its opening projections.

      And don’t be fooled by the dearth of visible action at the Resorts World site into thinking the project is scrapped, Pirosch said — there are plenty of things Genting could be doing behind the scene to move the project along. (Genting couldn’t be reached for comment.)

      “My honest opinion is it’s at their discretion,” Pirosch said. “By all metrics as far as I know, they have the money. They can do it whenever they want. They’re probably just trying to figure out the site.”

    • North Strip Walgreens

      Target completion date: Spring 2015

      The project: In the same area as SLS Las Vegas and MGM’s new open-air venue, Walgreens is slated to move into about 17,300 square feet of a new retail complex that broke ground this spring. As with those other two properties, it’s expected to help boost business in the struggling North Strip area.

      The site has a storied past: It used to be home to the barnyard-themed Holy Cow casino and brewery, which was shuttered more than 10 years ago but wasn’t torn down until years later. Two Australian investors also once announced plans to build a $700 million, 940-foot condo tower there that would have had Donald Trump’s ex-wife Ivana Trump’s name attached to it, but the project was canned and the site sold in 2007 for $47 million.

      Walgreens spokesman Phil Caruso said the new store is on track to open in the spring.

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