Las Vegas NowMGM Mirage Loses Millions as CityCenter Prepares to Open

MGM Mirage Loses Millions as CityCenter Prepares to Open

LAS VEGAS, Nv. -- One of the Las Vegas Strip's gaming giants announced Thursday it has lost $750 million in its third quarter. MGM Mirage's report comes just a month before CityCenter is set to open.

The company says the loss is largely because the value of its latest casino project has fallen as gamblers spend less during the recession. The loss of $1.70 per share the company is reporting Thursday contrasts with a profit of $61.3 million, or 22 cents per share, in the period a year earlier.

MGM Mirage's signature skyscrapers tower over the Strip. $8.5 billion later and CityCenter is almost here. "This is a critically important part of our economy," said Alan Feldman, Vice President of Public Affairs with MGM Mirage.

Feldman says people will soon fill CityCenter's high-rises. Vdara, an all-suite hotel and spa, opens December 1, 2009. Two days later, the public can visit Crystals, featuring high-end retail and entertainment. On December 4, 2009, luxury hotel Mandarian Oriental opens. This is all building up to the project's centerpiece, Aria, a resort and casino debuting December 16, 2009.

"All told, you're talking about billions of dollars of activities in the first year," said Feldman.

The Harmon Hotel at CityCenter is also scheduled to open a year from now.

With 12,000 jobs, will CityCenter be an economic cure-all for recession-ravaged Las Vegas? "It's not as if CityCenter's going to change the economy of the world overnight. That isn't what's going to happen. But what it does do, it positions the marketplace with something new to see," said Feldman.

Analyst Brian Gordon says there are two schools of thought with CityCenter. "One, more hotel rooms are going to continue to dilute the market further," he said. "On the other side of the spectrum, this is going to be the latest and greatest project and there's not another CityCenter and there probably won't be another CityCenter."

He says that status could draw new visitors. "Oh definitely. We'd love to see it when it's completed," said tourist Cory Couture.

The goal is getting tourists to stay and spend.

The impact of CityCenter will be felt up and down the Strip. Competitors want it to succeed, because if it doesn't room rates will be lowered, meaning lower revenues for the companies.