Dubai World may be teetering on the brink but one of the firm's key investment
projects will roar to life in Las Vegas as a glittering US$8.5 billion
development is unveiled. The 18-million-square-foot CityCenter complex of
hotels, condos and shops is the most expensive privately funded construction
project in American history.
CityCenter begins a staged launch to the public as the non-gaming 57-story
Vdara condo-hotel, the stately 47-story Mandarin Oriental and the gargantuan
Crystals shopping center (above) bows ahead of the December 16 grand opening of
the 4,004-room casino-resort Aria.
A bed of flowers accents the floor of Crystals, the luxury retail and
entertainment district of CityCenter, in Las Vegas, Nevada on December 3.
A wooden structure, which contains the concierge on the ground level and a
dining terrace on the second level for the restaurant Beso, is seen at Crystals.
Invited guests and media walk past a water sculpture titled "Halo" before the
official opening of Crystals on Dec 3.
A sculpture of ice towers titled "Glacia" is one of the two water features at
Crystals.
The Vdara Hotel & Spa is seen during the opening on Dec 1. The 57-storey,
1,495-suite luxury property is the first to open in MGM Mirage's US$8.5 billion
CityCenter project.
Light fixtures and a painting by Peter Wegner are seen in the concierge lobby
of the Vdara Hotel & Spa.
The women's spa area is seen during the opening of the Vdara Hotel & Spa.
People look out of the window in room of a "Panoramic Suite" of the Vdara Hotel
& Spa.
