City Center opens in Las Vegas

"CityCenter" has opened in Las Vegas yesterday. No, not the CityCenter Mall as we know it in the region; rather the kind of one, where you go in, spend your money and usually get nothing much in return.

Further to the last post on this topic and after all the financial turmoil Dubai is going through, I find the timing and price tag of the project rather ironic. Not any less ironic is the title used in the Media "reviving sin city's economy".  Watch the Bloomberg video here.

See the firework on the opening night of the MGM Mirage  - Dubai World joint venture:

What really happened in Vegas

Last September I already commented on the MGM Mirage - Dubai deal in Las Vegas. Seems that this project is in deep trouble. For starters, check the share price of MGM, which as I type, stands at u$ 1.99! Share price is hence at its lowest in over 19 years.

Quote from International Herald Tribune dated 22-Aug-07: "Dubai World will also buy 14 million shares from MGM Mirage at a price of US$84 per share."

MGM Mirage and Dubai World have recently failed to get a loan by Deutsche Bank worth 1.2 billion U$ which is required to complete the CityCenter project.

Considering that these are the losses of just ONE single project, is there any wonder that Dubai's investments are in dire straits? Personally I find it ironic that especially this project went down the drain. Dubai should not invest in the gambling industry. Ever. It's a shame that this investment ever took place.

What happens in Vegas

"What happens in Vegas" was quite an entertaining movie. But there's something equally entertaining as the movie and that is, what REALLY is happening in Vegas. This subject has already been talked about in this blog last year.
In the last 3 days, various international media such as Forbes, CNNmoney, Bloomberg and various Casino News-sites have posted updates on the Dubai investments in Vegas.

...sourced from onlinecasinoadvisory.com
Dubai has said that, in addition to their investment in MGM Mirage directly, they will also own 50 percent of the CityCenter condo/hotel casino and resort complex currently under construction.

Dubai World was given permission to raise its stake in MGM Mirage by various state gambling regulators, allowing the financial arm of the Dubai government to purchase up to 14.75 percent of the casino giant. Dubai World currently owns 9.4 percent of MGM.
New Jersey state regulators approved the possible transaction this week, following previous acceptance of the deal by officials in Michigan and Nevada. MGM Mirage stock rose almost 20 percent in response to the news, going from a price of $33.25 a share to $38.77.
Dubai may eventually increase its ownership of MGM to 20 percent, depending on further approval by Michigan regulators, who had ok'ed the move up to 14.75 percent in April.

..from AP
Steel work has been completed for the Aria Resort & Casino, the anchor property of its massive Citycenter development on the Las Vegas Strip. With 4,000 rooms in two 61-story towers, Aria is the largest of six towers that will hold the bulk of the 19 million-sf mini-city between the Bellagio and Monte Carlo resorts, which is set to open all at once in late 2009 at a cost of more than $11 billion.
Citycenter is a 50-50 joint venture of MGM Mirage and Dubai World, a Dubai government conglomerate whose companies include Nakheel, developer of the man-made Palm and World islands off the coast of Dubai. The project’s opening is now less than 16 months away. When it was 20 months out, about half of the 2,700 residential units had been sold and the mix of buyers has been about one-third Nevada, one-third from Southern California and one third international. About 10% of sales have come from the Middle East, a percentage MGM Mirage and Dubai World hopes will grow this year now that a sales center in Dubai is up and running.

..Ok then, I guess next will be the addition of direct flights from Dubai to Las Vegas on Emirates Airlines. And after that, we should soon see the announcement of the glamorous Dubai "Double Standard"-Awards which, because of popular demand, will be awarded twice yearly. The award will also see the creation of a special quality evalutation committee which will monitor and award new benchmarks for the industry, similar to the ISO.