When I was growing up in New York, the City Center was a theater, the place where one could go to see opera, ballet, special shows like the Encores! series that begat several Broadway revivals, Gilbert and Sullivan, Alvin Ailey and so many more cultural events in New York. It's still there presenting terrific shows. But, now, here in Las Vegas, the words "City Center" have taken on a new meaning.
City Center in Las Vegas -- in case you haven't seen or heard -- is the 18 million square foot, 67+ acres, $8.6 billion MGM Mirage property that comes complete with several hotels, residences, an ultra-high-end shopping mall, a new Cirque du Soleil show about Elvis Presley, one casino, fine dining -- including restaurants owned by Eva Longoria Parker, Sirio Maccioni, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Michael Mina and Todd English, among many others. There are luxurious spas and, of course, a slew of bars and clubs. It is LEED certified as a green building and generates its own electricity.
As befits its cost, City Center is opulent, bedecked with breathtaking works of art. It is, indeed, dazzling -- all modern, sleek and beautiful. If you aren't looking for old-world architecture and don't need a place to sit and rest on your walk that isn't in a bar you'll love it.
The press and the critics have weighed in on City Center. One architectural publication says it's the "new paradigm" in architecture. Writer Eliza Hussman in the
Back in September, Time recounted the first wave of hiring the 12,000 employees needed to make the complex run smoothly. This is, I've heard, the largest private corporate hiring in the United States this year. Construction of City Center wasn't easy. The Las Vegas Sun won a Pulitzer this year for investigating construction deaths at Las Vegas Strip projects. Some of those were at this one. Then there were funding issues. MGM had gotten heavy investment from Dubai World which, as we've read recently, is having its own financial troubles. All of these problems, questions and issues disappeared in what seemed to be a wave of delirium. Touting itself as the "Capital of A New World," City Center was the scene of weeks of press tours, gala parties and peeks at what lay within its mirrored walls. Some say the hirings will be partially offset by the loss of constructions jobs. Others say that the wave of optimism that came with the opening will lead to more building though, of course, on a much smaller scale. Most Las Vegans seem to be taking a wait-and-see attitude. After all, MGM Mirage president Jim Murren has said repeatedly that the project is not for locals. He was quoted in the The Sun saying, "I live in [the western suburb of] Summerlin. I coach my kids. I have a lot of restaurants out there and if I didn't work in the resort community I probably wouldn't come down here [the Strip] much," Murren said. "And that was my point. I really wouldn't be upset if people that live here never visited Aria. I would be upset if people didn't try to wander around CityCenter and enjoy the environment." The local press, of course, has taken umbrage at that. (I, in fact, love going to The Strip. Just not on Friday or Saturday.) I can tell you that, in visits to Vdara and the Aria -- along with a preview of Viva Elvis -- what I've seen of City Center has been more than amazing. It looks to be in fact the sort of Emerald City of great beauty and dreams that the MGM Grand, across the street and sheathed in green glass, merely represents. But time will tell if all the dreams and hopes invested in City Center by its parent company MGM are, in fact real or, merely, a Mirage.
