Asians Gamble In Vegas

In a possible sign of a financial turnaround in Las Vegas, the northern end of the Strip may be home to a new multibillion-dollar casino called Resorts World Las Vegas.

Malaysian conglomerate The Genting Group said it will break ground on the project next year, and will pay $350 million for the 87-acre site where the partially built Echelon project by Boyd Gaming Corp. ground to a halt nearly five years ago.

Genting’s project, Resorts World Las Vegas, is expected to feature 3,500 hotel rooms, a convention center and a 4,000-seat theatre.

Boyd’s Echelon was one of several multibillion-dollar projects that stalled in Las Vegas as the economy crashed.

Genting’s project is expected to break ground next year and open in 2016. Genting said it will build on the steel and concrete skeleton of the Echelon.

“The entrance of one of the world’s leading resort gaming developers into Nevada is another fantastic sign that Las Vegas and the Strip are poised for great things moving forward in 2013 and beyond,” Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval said in a statement.

Another sign of potentially changing times is that an Asian conglomerate is building its gaming project on U.S. soil versus years of U.S. companies building projects in Asia.

The Genting conglomerate opened its first casino in 1971 in Malaysia and now operates sites in New York, Philippines, United Kingdom, Singapore and the Bahamas.