[Bender13]

Good article, few men have had the influence on Las Vegas that Steve Wyn has had.

I found a couple news stories, first W Las Vegas http://www.lvbusinesspress.com/artic...ews/01news.txt

W Las Vegas unveils project details
By TONY ILLIA
BUSINESS PRESS

The new W Las Vegas Hotel, Casino and Residences at Harmon Avenue and Koval Lane is taking shape. The $2.5 billion development will consist of two 50-story, modern glass towers housing a combined 4,000 hotel and condo-hotel units. Residences run from 500 to 3,000 square feet, with prices starting at $650,000. The 24.5 acre complex is being jointly developed by Edge Resorts and Starwood Hotels and Resorts.

In January, the project secured $232.5 million in pre-development financing from Societe Generale Corporate & Investment Banking. Utility installation work is now underway, and construction of the $5 million, 7,200-square-foot welcome center is nearly complete.

M.J. Dean Construction, the firm responsible for Mandalay Bay, is the project's general contractor. Lacina Heitler Architects of New York is the design architect, with Klai Juba as architect-of-record. Charles Allem will design the interiors. Ground breaking is tentatively set for 2007 with completion in 2009.

"Securing our development team for W Las Vegas is a huge step forward," said Reagan Silber, Edge Group co-chairman.

W Las Vegas will feature 20 restaurants, bars, lounges, plus a spa and fitness center. There will also be numerous outdoor pools and Jacuzzis as well as 100,000-square-feet of retail space and 300,000- square-feet of meeting/convention rooms. It will additionally house a 75,000-square-foot casino.

Notable early reservations include Dave Navarro and Carmen Electra, Anne Heche, Paul Walker, DJ AM, and Ahman Green of the Green Bay Packers, among others. Paris Hilton, a frequent staple of the Vegas club circuit, reserved an exclusive penthouse, as did poker pro Phil Hellmuth.

"The market is clearly excited about a W Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas," said Adam Frank, Edge Group president. "The interest in our project and the depth of demand for our condo-hotel residences has far exceeded our lofty expectations."

But the project comes at a time when many neighboring Harmon Avenue corridor development plans are falling by the wayside, including Related's $3 billion, 4,400-unit Las Ramblas and the Hard Rock's $1.4 billion, 1,420-unit Flats, Bungalows, and Residences.

The second is from the RJ, that huge piece of land across the freeway from Mandalay Bay has been purchased. http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_ho...s/7145278.html



Here's part of the article.

One of the largest pieces of undeveloped land near the Strip has been sold, and its new owners are promising to build an iconic resort that befits its setting along "the gateway to Las Vegas."

Just don't expect something eye-catching to break ground soon.

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David Edelstein, a prominent New York developer who co-owns the Desert Passage at Aladdin shopping center, said he's part of a group that on Monday paid more than $200 million for 63 vacant acres on the west side of Interstate 15 near Russell Road.

The off-Strip parcel, in the shadows of Mandalay Bay and Luxor, is big enough to house multiple hotel-casinos, a shopping center and accompanying high-rise towers, much like MGM Mirage's planned $7 billion Project CityCenter and Echelon Place, a similar $4 billion development planned by Boyd Gaming Corp.

Unlike the backers of those two Strip projects, however, Edelstein said his group will wait a while before it decides what to place on its prized new holding.

"There's a ton of development going on now that's driven construction prices up," Edelstein said. "There's a shortage of manpower, labor and good managerial power out there. It's prudent that we sit and wait to see how the market shakes out."