News 10/9/08  Las Vegas Sands Corp. suspends all projects to raise new capital

As reported by the Associated Press, The Las Vegas Sands Corp. will suspend all projects (including the St. Regis Residences) in order to raise $2.41 billion in new capital. This will shore up the company and deflect any worries of bankruptcy. There was no timeline given for the resuming of the construction.
read the whole article here.

9/25/08  New Renderings of The St. Regis Condo tower

 
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE

News 9/4/08    Condo Tower Gets Developer and Name Change

The condo tower being constructed between the Venetian and Palazzo will be developed and run by Starwood Hotels and Resorts. The development has been renamed The St. Regis Residences at the Venetian Palazzo, Las Vegas - wow, that's a long name, I wouldn't want to answer the phones there.
 

2/14/08 First Renderings of Next Major Expansion

The Venetian/Palazzo/Sands Expo (MEGACENTER) is going to get even bigger. Although no announcement has been made, the renderings (below) tell the story of the next major proposed project by Las Vegas Sands. These are very early renderings and I expect many changes before any construction starts.

The next expansion (UberMEGACENTERCity) will include another hotel (yup, I said another hotel) another condo tower, and a two (count 'em) two-million square-foot expo center.

This will be an interesting project on many levels:

• LOCATION - The Hotel and Condo use a good portion of the existing Sands Expo space (behind Palazzo). That space will be recovered by adding another floor to the un-destroyed remains of Sands Expo.

• LOGISTICS - A new two-million square foot Expo center will be built on the Sands owned land east of the Wynn employee parking garage. A long pedestrian bridge will ferry patrons between the two Expos. Wynn built a bridge from the garage, across Sands Ave. (under the monorail), this new bridge will run perpendicular to Wynn's bridge and either go over it or under it (too funny, I love those guys). More on the Wynn's blocking moves below.   

• DESIGN - From a design aspect, since this project will not be very visible from the Strip, Sands is not adhering to their old-world Venetian style. The new Expo and both towers are ultra-modern.

       
Click images to enlarge

2/14/08  New renderings of The St. Regis Residences tower

   
The renderings (above) show an elevation of the tower (left) and the condo tower's sky lobby (right). The tower is under construction.
 

Palazzo Open
Grand Opening 1/17/08

Opening night photo by Jon Buhay

       
Shots of the Casino sent in by John 1/20/08
 

Photos from the soft opening 12/30/07 by Mark Diederichsen
Only a few of the restaurants and shops are open at this time.
The Grand Opening is scheduled for 1/17/08.

  
More interior shots by Daniel Lamontagne from 1/7/08
 

The latest rendering of Palazzo includes the new condo tower.
Click image to enlarge
 

Palazzo

Las Vegas Sands officials unveiled previously undisclosed details about the company's $1.8 billion, Palazzo project, which it described as "a world-class luxury hotel, casino and resort with a design and ambience reminiscent of high-end locales such as Beverly Hills, Bel-Air and Rodeo Drive."

The new resort is adjacent to The Venetian and the Sands Expo and Convention Center, and across Sands Avenue from Wynn Las Vegas.

Guests arriving from the street will enter the 60-foot-glass-domed entry lobby featuring two-story fountains. Those approaching from The Venetian will make the transition through a towering octagonal structure, itself topped by a glass and iron dome.

The new resort will include an all-suites, 50-floor luxury hotel tower with 3,068-rooms, including 375 concierge-level suites and six villas with up to 11,000 square feet each. The 105,000-square foot casino will have 1,900 slot machines and 80 table games. The 250,000-square foot pool deck will connect seamlessly with the Venetian's pool deck. Palazzo's pool deck will have an outdoor restaurant and two private villas.

On 2/3/07 an additional 270-unit condo tower was added to the mix. The tower will be built between Palazzo and Venetian.

There will also be a 450,000-square foot enclosed shopping, dining and entertainment complex, which is expected to include 80 high- and mid-end retailers (connecting with the existing Canal Shops at the Venetian), and 450,000 square feet of added meeting and conference space (which will connect to the Sands Convention Center).
 

Palazzo Model
Model images from ratevegas.com

     
Click images to enlarge

Palazzo Wins the Green

4/9/08   Palazzo was granted LEED 'green' certification and the designation of being the "worlds largest LEED certified building"

Read the press release here  4-0

10/9/07  AAA upgrades Venetians rating to Five Diamonds

AAA has upgraded the Venetian to a Five Diamond rating (from its previous Four Diamond status). The executives at the Venetian all received a healthy bonus due to the result their hard work brought.  This is now the sixth Five Diamond resort in the greater Las Vegas area.

Since Palazzo is to be an upgraded addition to the Venetian, a Five Diamond rating most likely awaits it as well.

The Venetian holds a Four-Star rating with the more stringent Mobile rating system.
 

NEWS 2/4/07    Construction begins on previously rumored, strip-front condo tower

A (yet unnamed) 270-unit condo tower on the Las Vegas strip, will be part of the massive Venetian/Palazzo complex. The (until now, rumored) tower  is being built on top of the 90,000 square foot building that will house retail. The tower is reported to be of a modern glass design which, this reporter feels will most probably clash with the neo-classical style of the existing and soon-to-be structures.
No renderings or details of this addition have yet been released, so opinions may change.
 

 Wynn & Sands buy parts of the same block

This image taken 8/7/06 shows how Wynn's new garage behind the Sands Expo, blocks Sands from expanding the Expo onto contiguous space. The Garage is conveniently across Sands Ave. from Wynn Las Vegas.