Asian Themed Mega-Resort Planned for Las Vegas

By ABS Contributor | Published on: March 9, 2013 | Updated on June 12, 2013 Comments (2)

Resorts World Las Vegas, the city’s first new mega-resort in six years and scheduled to open in 2016, will have such Asian influences as a replica of the great Wall of China and a panda preserve.

Resorts World is to open on the site of the former Stardust Hotel-Casino. The 87-acre development will rise at Las Vegas Boulevard and Desert Inn Road, just south of Circus Circus and cater-corner from Wynn-Encore.

The multibillion-dollar project is the brainchild of Malaysia-based Genting Group. The development will feature 3,500 hotel rooms in its first phase, along with a multi-story casino, upscale restaurants and high-end shopping.

Genting paid $350 million to acquire the land and the concrete skeletons of some buildings from Las Vegas-based Boyd Gaming, the Associated Press reported. It had planned an expansive, multi-hotel project named Echelon, but after imploding the Stardust in 2007 and beginning construction, the resort was mothballed during the economic downturn.

An artist’s rendering of Resorts World Las Vegas highlights the property’s Asian influences. A replica of the Great Wall of China, facing the Strip, will wind through the property adjacent to red-roofed, pagoda-style buildings that will be dwarfed by the towering hotel. A panda habitat is also in the works, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Although it’s a newcomer to Las Vegas, Genting’s Resorts World brand is well-known elsewhere. The company operates casinos in the Bahamas, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and the United Kingdom. Its first U.S. casino opened 16 months ago near New York’s Kennedy International Airport.

Democracy needs journalism it can trust.

This election season, the stakes are higher than usual — and so is the pressure on newsrooms to soften their coverage, stay quiet, or just disappear. Independent reporting, the kind that answers to readers instead of advertisers or political pressure, matters more in a moment like this, not less.

For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed independent and reader-funded. We have no corporate owner and no shareholders telling us what to cover or how to cover it. That independence is also our biggest vulnerability: nothing protects it except readers choosing to fund it directly.

Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under in a moment like this, it's rarely the independent, reader-funded ones that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Give once Give monthly Support another way

Democracy needs journalism it can trust.

Related Stories

Mary J. Blige Extends Vegas Residency as Viral Clips Ignite Heated Debate, with Critics Demanding Refunds While Loyal Fans Defend the Queen

‘Trying to Keep His Balance’: Trump Blindsided By Sudden Loud Screams — Cameras Zoomed In and Exposed His Mysterious New Power Move Had Backfired

Four Major Hotels on the Las Vegas Strip Hit With Bed Bug Infestations — Here’s What You Need to Know and How to Get Rid of Them