MGM wants to implode the Harmon Tower in Las Vegas before it ever opens

[Slimprofits]

http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/harmon-i...3.html?ref=713

Posted: Aug. 17, 2011 | 2:01 a.m.

On Monday, MGM Resorts International submitted a plan to Clark County to level the Harmon Tower, the empty luxury hotel and condominium high-rise at the north end of CityCenter. An engineering firm reported last month that the Harmon Tower could collapse if a major earthquake struck Las Vegas, and county officials have demanded that the threat to public safety be addressed immediately.

The casino operator says the project, long plagued by construction and structural problems, can't be fixed.

Perini Building Co., the general contractor for CityCenter, disagrees, saying it can repair the structure. The company and MGM Resorts are tied up in litigation over allegations of construction defects. A District Court judge would have to approve the implosion of the Harmon Tower, a step Perini says would destroy evidence of design errors.

In this economy, MGM Resorts clearly has no interest in completing the tower. It wants to make it go away.

[zoog]

Re: MGM wants to implode the Harmon Tower in Las Vegas before it ever opens

They nearly went bankrupt trying to build the thing, and now they want to blow it up? Nice.

[thriftyandboringinohio]

Re: MGM wants to implode the Harmon Tower in Las Vegas before it ever opens

Perhaps this is the poster child project for malinvestment during a credit boom

[GRG55]

Re: MGM wants to implode the Harmon Tower in Las Vegas before it ever opens

Perhaps this is the poster child project for malinvestment during a credit boom

Not only is it perhaps the USA poster child of property malinvestment during the boom, it has the poster child parent of global malinvestment:

MGM MIRAGE and Dubai World Complete CityCenter Joint Venture Transaction


LAS VEGAS, Nov. 15, 2007 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- MGM MIRAGE (NYSE: MGM) and Dubai World today announced that they have completed their previously
announced 50/50 joint venture transaction in the landmark CityCenter
development in Las Vegas.

MGM MIRAGE contributed the CityCenter assets which the parties had
mutually valued at $5.4 billion, and received 50 percent of the equity in
CityCenter. Pursuant to the terms of the joint venture agreement, Dubai
World contributed approximately $2.96 billion for 50 percent of the equity
in CityCenter. Following the close of the joint venture transaction, MGM
MIRAGE received a cash distribution from the joint venture of approximately
$2.47 billion. The joint venture retained approximately $490 million to
fund near-term construction costs. The joint venture will obtain project
specific financing to fund remaining project costs.

The joint venture, CityCenter Holdings LLC, is owned equally by MGM
MIRAGE and Dubai World. CityCenter Holdings LLC will own 100 percent of
CityCenter, a mixed-use luxury residential, resort and retail complex
currently being developed by MGM MIRAGE on the Las Vegas Strip...

And then the fight was on - for a while:

MGM, Dubai World reach CityCenter agreement; lawsuit dropped

Published Wednesday, April 29, 2009 | 12:44 p.m.
Updated Wednesday, April 29, 2009 | 5 p.m.
Sun coverage

MGM Mirage and Dubai World said Wednesday they settled their differences over funding for CityCenter, with MGM Mirage agreeing to cover potential cost overruns and Dubai World agreeing to pay back some CityCenter payments that had been covered by MGM Mirage during the past two months.

And lenders agreed to fully fund the remaining money needed to finish construction of the complex, which has an updated budget of $8.5 billion, MGM Mirage said...