What's bigger and glossier than Rockefeller Center, SoHo, and Times Square combined -- and includes gambling? Behold CityCenter Las Vegas, a sleek, $8.5 billion dollar hotel/casino development project that aims to reclaim Sin City's jet-set swagger after roughly a decade of over-the-top development projects in the splashy tourist metropolises of Dubai and Macau.


Pic via Jetson Green

Today the curtain was unveiled on the mammoth new, long-awaited, onetime financially troubled CityCenter, which was christened by MGM Mirage as "The Capital of The New World." According to the Las Vegas Sun, the CityCenter is "the largest privately funded project in U.S. history," as well as one of the largest LEED-certified developments in the United States. When fully completed, CityCenter will be the largest single employment opportunity in the history of Las Vegas, reports the Sun. All things considered, the four towering hotels on the property will boast more than 6,800 hotel rooms and condominiums by early next year and 400 additional rooms by the end of 2010.

Lots of pictures and more details after the jump.

Located on 67 acres on the Strip, the centerpiece of the property is the Aria Hotel,which will open on December 16. Along with 4,004 rooms and suites, the Aira boasts 16 restaurants, 10 bars, an Elvis Presley-themed Cirque Du Soleil show, and three pools, including an adults-only day club called "Liquid," which will begin sizzle when the bacchanalian Vegas pool party season begins. The behemoth complex will also feature a posh, five-star Madarian Oriental Hotel, a high-end retail shopping district dubbed "The Crystals," and the Vdara Hotel, a luxurious residential condo hotel with a 18,000-square-foot spa. A fourth hotel will open in 2010. Notable culinary options include restaurants by celebrity chefs like Michael Mina, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Pierre Gagnaire, Julian Serrano, and Masayoshi Takayama. The undeniably beautiful Eva Longoria Parker is also reported to open her flagship restaurant, Belo, in CityCenter this upcoming New Years Eve.

The development project has a turbulent history. All together, six construction workers have been killed since construction began. Earlier this year, the project was on the verge of being one of the largest foreclosure in United States history when MGM Mirage and DubaiWorld, a co-partner in the venture, were unable to procure the capital to make a $220 million payment in May 2009. Construction almost came to a standstill when it was speculated that the project was filing for bankruptcy. Ironically, DubaiWorld, a state-owned construction conglomerate responsible for the building boom in the United Arab Emirates, is currently experiencing its own problems. Last week the debt-troubled company announced plans to
delay payment on over $26 billion dollars of debt stemming from other massive development projects. But, according to AFP, DubaiWorld's financial woes will have no impact on the next phases of CityCenter's development.

Troubles behind them, the Vdara Hotel is hosting an A-list kickoff party tonight that is co-sponsored by the folks at Vanity Fair. Orlando Bloom and Rosario Dawson are expected to be on the guest list, in addition to the usual coterie of celebrities.


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