Going All-In On Las Vegas Centers
Developers strive to create retail that stands out in a city where everything is getting bigger and better.
Jaime Lackey

Believe it or not, Las Vegas needs more retail. Developers are opening new centers and mixed-use projects to meet the needs of a growing residential population as well as an increasing number of tourists who are more interested in shopping than gambling.

“Las Vegas is quickly becoming the shopping capital of the country,” says Russ Joyner, senior vice president of Miracle Mile Shops. “Whatever your taste, Las Vegas has it.”

The city is seeing more shoppers, more residents, more retailers and more consumer dollars — on the strip and in the suburbs.

“There has been an increase of 50 percent in shopping-related expenditures over the last 3 years in Las Vegas,” says Leslie Eichner, chief creative officer with The Cosmopolitan Resort & Casino. “Developers want to play to the audience and incorporate revenue generators. That is why retail is becoming more important on the Strip.”

The Strip is seeing a lot of activity in the form of new retail projects, but developers are also bringing exciting new retail to the locals.

“We would like to see the Strip’s retail sophistication percolate out into the more affluent suburbs,” says Rodney Tucker, CEO of Citation Property Group’s Las Vegas office.

The local demographics certainly justify developer interest. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that Las Vegas is one of the top 10 fastest growing metro areas in the U.S., with an increase of 29.2 percent in population from 2000 to 2006. There were an estimated 552,539 people living in Las Vegas in 2006. According to the U.S. Census Bureau and the 2006 American Community Survey, more than 120,000 households in Clark Country, Nevada, report income of $100,000 or more annually. The median household income was $53,536 in 2006.

The Cosmopolitan Resort & Casino

An artist’s rendering of the $3 billion Cosmopolitan Resort & Casino to open on the Las Vegas strip in 2009.

“Everyone is looking to be part of something unique in Las Vegas, not another attempt to copy what already exists,” says Eichner. The Cosmopolitan will be a visually spectacular addition to the strip. It is the next evolution of Vegas.”

The Cosmopolitan, being developed by 3700 Associates LLC, is on an 8.5-acre tract in the midst of the famous strip. The 6.9 million-square-foot project will cost more than $3 billion, and will feature 2,998 condo-hotel and hotel rooms, 140,000 square feet of event and conference space, an 80,000-square-foot casino, 265,000 square feet of shopping and dining and a 40,000-square-foot spa, salon and fitness center. It will also feature a 5-acre outdoor facility including The Cosmo Beach Club, three wedding chapels and underground parking for 3,800 vehicles.

According to Eichner, design is an important element. She says, “The Cosmopolitan’s retail will be showcased within a striking custom-designed three-story transparent glass façade, which will overlook The Strip and will be directly accessible from Las Vegas Boulevard and Harmon Avenue.”

A sketch of what the interior of the Cosmopolitan Resort & Casino will look like upon completion.

With most Vegas properties, customers have to enter the property to get to the retail. Not so at The Cosmopolitan. “Ours is at the front door and it is visually appealing,” says Eichner, who also stressed the company is seeking, “funkier, edgier retailers.”

Club Tattoo, one of the initial feature stores at The Cosmopolitan, is co-owned by music artist Chester Bennington of Linkin Park. Club Tattoo will feature tattoos and piercing, along with a full clothing line. The Soho boutique Lounge will open a 10,000-square-foot location featuring established men’s and women’s designer brands as well as up-and-coming labels. Lounge will also offer jewelry, shoes, sunglasses and a music department featuring its own DJ.

Eichner says the company is talking with one of the major sports equipment companies about doing a concept for The Cosmopolitan.

Philippe, the chic modern Chinese restaurant from New York, has also signed on at The Cosmopolitan.

“We are also looking for restaurateurs that will offer more of a social scene and a multi-sensual experience that goes beyond just the food they are serving. Showcased on the third floor within our transparent glass façade, our restaurants will feature amazing Strip views and several will have terraced seating,” Eichner says.

Additionally, Eichner notes, “We signed Wolfgang Puck to be our exclusive hotel caterer, offering unparalleled dining through banquets and catering, room service, the hotel room mini-bar, and the employee dining room. This marks the first time there will be full integration with a celebrity chef beyond a restaurant setting.”

The Cosmopolitan Resort & Casino is slated to open in late 2009.

The Shoppes at The Palazzo

Las Vegas Sands Corporation has opened The Palazzo Las Vegas, a $1.8 billion second phase to its Venetian Casino Resort, located on the strip.

The Palazzo Las Vegas includes more than 3,000 hotel rooms and 1 million square feet of convention space, as well as a 300,000-square-foot retail component called The Shoppes at The Palazzo, which includes 80 stores and 15 restaurants. General Growth Properties, the largest retail developer and owner in Las Vegas, has acquired The Shoppes at The Palazzo and is operating the project.

The Shoppes at The Palazzo will total 85,000 square feet overall, and feature (amongst many firsts) Las Vegas’ first Barneys New York. Several other stores and brands are also making a Las Vegas debut, including Chloe, Tory Burch, Christian Louboutin, Diane Von Furstenberg, Van Cleef & Arpels, Catherine Malandrino, Anya Hindmarch, and Michael Kors. Additionally, The Shoppes at The Palazzo is home to the largest Canyon Ranch SpaClub to date.

Wolfgang Puck, Emeril Lagasse, Mario Batali and Charlie Trotter have restaurants at The Shoppes at The Palazzo. Other recognizable restaurants include Dos Caminos, Grand Lux Café, Jade, Mainland, Morels French Steakhouse & Bistro, Prime Blue Grill, SUSHISAMBA, Wildwood BBQ, and Woo. The 40/40 Club is a Las Vegas version of New York’s sports bar and lounge.

Miracle Mile Shops

Miracle Mile Shops add more bright lights to the big city Vegas strip.

Miracle Mile Shops is the newly named retail component at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino (formerly the Aladdin), which is located on the strip at the heart of Las Vegas Boulevard. The 475,000-square-foot retail component contains 170 specialty stores and 15 restaurants, and it is undergoing a $50 million renovation that will be completed in the first quarter of 2008.

“With the Aladdin’s transformation into Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, we decided it was time for a change as well,” says Miracle Mile Shops’ Joyner. “The heavy Moroccan theme was fun for a time, but people can associate and enjoy Miracle Mile Shops more now that it has a young, urban and generally more fun atmosphere to it.”

Retailers new to Miracle Mile Shops include Las Vegas’ first H&M and True Religion locations, as well as new Urban Outfitters and Ben Sherman stores. New restaurants include Trader Vic’s and Hawaiian Tropic Zone. Trader Vic’s Las Vegas includes three separate dining and entertainment venues featuring a ground-level restaurant and Strip-side patio that opens onto Las Vegas Boulevard and a second-level Tiki Club-ultra lounge. Culinary artist David Burke is behind Hawaiian Tropic Zone’s eclectic menu.

“Miracle Mile Shops is designed for the everyday person,” Joyner says. “We pride ourselves on being the hip, cutting-edge and affordable shopping destination in Las Vegas.”

Miracle Mile Shops is looking to sign additional restaurants, especially destination eateries that appeal to the new center’s target customer demographic.

The Village At Queensridge

The Village at Queensridge exemplifies massive retail projects booming off the Vegas strip.

An affiliate of Las Vegas-based Executive Home Builders (EHB) is developing The Village at Queensridge, to be built 11 miles northwest of the Las Vegas strip. The property is located in Clark County at Rampart Boulevard and Alta Drive, at the edge of the master-planned Summerlin community. The $850 million project will have 500,000 square feet of retail and restaurants, 200,000 square feet of office space and 340 residential condominiums on 29 acres. The development, which broke ground in November 2005, is slated for completion in late 2008.

“This is a development for locals, by locals,” says Eli Applebaum, executive vice president of EHB’s commercial division. “The project is organic. It has evolved from the needs of locals.”

“The Village at Queensridge will feel like a city and not a center,” he adds. “The village itself will be the anchor. The depth and scope is far more ambitious than retail. We want to do something more crafted. We want to enrich the daily quality of life. People will come here morning, noon and night for a rich experience. The art of living — that is our draw.”

The sun rises on The Village at Queensridge project in late 2008.

The village will be built in stone from the company’s quarries in Israel and India. “Architecturally, the project is beautiful,” Applebaum says.

While the buildings and landscaping will offer something unique in the market, the tenants also stand out. Kidville is opening a 16,000-square-foot facility — its first outside of New York City. David Barton Gym has signed on to open a 33,500-square-foot facility, while other tenants include Tommy Bahama, AG Jeans and Harry Hamlin and Lisa Rinna’s Belle Gray.

The Village at Queensridge will be the first Vegas location for several restaurants. Danny Abrams is bringing Manhattan seafood restaurant Mermaid Inn to The Village at Queensridge. Sacramento-based Mikuni is opening its Japanese eatery concept, Taro’s By Mikuni. Mastro’s Steakhouse is also opening its first Vegas location at The Village.

Clock Tower Developments

New Zealand-based Citation Property Group is developing The Clock Tower at Spanish Hills (located in the Summerlin master-planned community) and The Clock Tower at Seven Hills (located in the Green Valley master-planned community in nearby Henderson).

The Clock Tower at Spanish Hills is a $150 million, 10-acre project will feature 308 condominiums, 55,000 square feet of retail space, 35,000 square feet of restaurant space, and 53,000 square feet of office space.

The larger of the two projects, The Clock Tower at Seven Hills is s $225 million, 11-acre project. It will feature 65,000 square feet of retail space, 37,000 square feet of restaurant space, 30,000 square feet of office space, 299 condominiums and a 130-room boutique hotel.

“Overall the market remains underserved relative to consumer’s requisite needs and discretionary wants,” says Citation Property Group’s Tucker. “We are developing two centers simultaneously for several reasons. First, to establish ourselves in the valley with a brand identity similar to what Caruso and Oliver McMillan have achieved in Southern California. Second, to serve the two most affluent local demographics: Henderson and Summerlin.”

He adds, “Necessity is dictating a more practical, comfortable and efficient presentation of a lifestyle where one isn’t required to drive to their mailbox. We believe there is a significant contingent who would immediately gravitate towards the lifestyle we are creating.”

According to Tucker, both areas lack unique boutique soft goods retailers such as Nevaeh and Talulah G, and Henderson needs white-tablecloth dining, as well.

Both projects are currently under construction and are slated for completion in 2009.

The District at Desert Star

A rendering of the retail center of The District at Desert Star, set to open in 2010.

Vestar Development Company, The Athena Group, and Celebration Centers of America are bringing The District at Desert Star to North Las Vegas. The $300 million project will total 1.2 million square feet of retail space and 700 residential units, and will be built on 160 acres located at North Fifth Street and Craig Road.

The Athena Group and Nevada-based Celebration Centers of America are master plan developers of the mixed-use project. Phoenix-based Vestar Development Company is developing the retail, while New York-based Athena Group is developing the residential project.

The development will have a traditional “drive up and park” power center component and a lifestyle center component that offers an open-air environment to shop, people-watch and eat, says Jeffrey Axtell, project director for Vestar Development Company. “This will be the dominant center in the trade area. There is nothing of this size in the market or planned for the market.”

The power center will feature big box stores that sell electronics, sporting goods and home goods. This component targets consumers in the 3- to 5-mile radius surrounding The District at Desert Star.

The pedestrian-friendly lifestyle component will attract consumers who are currently driving to the Strip or to downtown Las Vegas. Located in the center of the development, the lifestyle component will feature shops, restaurants and at least one department store. Axtell expects consumers to drive an average of 30 to 45 minutes to visit the lifestyle component.

North Las Vegas has had tremendous residential growth but has not seen a corresponding growth in retail to service these newcomers, according to Axtell. The area particularly needs restaurants, department stores, electronics and sporting goods.

“The population [of North Las Vegas] has doubled in the last 7 years. There are 220,000 people in the city now,” Axtell says.

He also notes that the population is expected grow to 250,000 by 2010.

The District at Desert Star is slated to break ground in spring 2008 with completion scheduled for July 2010.

Betting on Vegas

“Las Vegas will continue to be a very strong market for the foreseeable future,” says Applebaum. “The growth in the job market should continue and we will see a very stable, growing retail market.”

Axtell agrees. “This region is a good place to keep building,” he says. “There is tremendous job growth. An estimated 80,000 jobs will be created over the next few years. With more jobs, there will be even more need for retail than what is on the drawing boards now.”

Additional planned projects include General Growth Properties’ The Shoppes at Summerlin Centre (1.6 million square feet), opening in fall 2009, and Echelon (300,000 square feet), opening in 2010. Moreover, New York-based ELAD Group and Israel-based IDB Group are developing The Plaza in Las Vegas on 34.5 acres on the Strip, at the site of the former Frontier Hotel & Casino. It will include an ultra-luxury hotel, private residences, retail outlets, a state-of-the-art casino, destination restaurants, an entertainment venue and a convention complex. The project, which will involve an estimated $8 billion investment, is slated for completion in 2011.

As Eichner says, “There doesn’t seem to be an end in sight.”

But these developers do expect Vegas retail to continue to evolve, as Eichner explains, “As the number of people in Vegas and on the Strip increases, there will be a tendency for people to spend more time in certain neighborhoods on the Strip. Because of the traffic, it is difficult to jump in a cab and go from one side of the Strip to the other.”

Joyner predicts the same as his contemporaries, “Location will prevail in Las Vegas retail, along with retail destinations that provide a full package of shopping opportunities and amenities — dining and entertainment along with stores.”