Casino Connection Atlantic City

MGM Mirage assembles 100-acre tract on Strip

by Casino Connection Staff

MGM Mirage assembled the acreage necessary to develop on the North Strip in Las Vegas a project larger than its $7 billion Project CityCenter. While CityCenter sits on 66 acres, the company announced a $575 million land deal that will give it 100 contiguous acres stretching from Circus Circus to Sahara Avenue.
    “This land assemblage creates a very interesting and exciting opportunity for our company to create an integrated resort complex on the north end of the Strip,” said MGM Mirage President and CFO Jim Murren.
    The company will spend $444 million to purchase a vacant 25.8-acre lot owned by Sahara owner Gordon Gaming Corp. It will also spend $131 million for a 7.6-acre piece of land owned by Concord Wilshire Partners.
    The land connects with Circus Circus, which the company acquired in 2005, and will average about $17 million an acre.
    “What’s exciting about this purchase is that it fully unlocks the value of the Circus Circus land,” Murren said.
    The company plans to eliminate the RV park and low-rise motel at Circus Circus, freeing up an additional 44 acres.
    Murren said the land could be used for a project similar to CityCenter—located between the Monte Carlo and Bellagio—with a mix of hotel-casinos, boutique hotels, high-rise residential and a retail, dining and entertainment district. The company will seek partners to help finance the new development.
    While Murren has no timetable for development, he said work could start before CityCenter is finished. He did not comment on the possibilities of a development on a similar scale that has been discussed in Atlantic City on a 55-acre parcel adjacent to the Borgata.