Genting’s project plans in Miami call for 5,200 rooms, 800,000 square feet of gaming
Las Vegas Sand Corp. Chairman Sheldon Adelson loves to say “bigger is better” when discussing his casino projects, such the company’s Venetian Macau, which boasts a 500,000-square-foot casino.
We may find out Thursday what he thinks about the plans of his rival for a casino project in Miami.
According to the Miami Herald, Malaysia-based Genting Group is proposing to build a $3.8 billion waterfront resort project that rivals the largest Strip hotels and would contain four times as much casino space.
The Genting project would have 5,200 hotel rooms. The Strip’s largest hotel is the MGM Grand with 5,044 rooms, while Mandalay Bay has 4,756. Las Vegas Sands says it has more than 7,000 hotel rooms on the Strip when you combine the company’s connected Venetian and Palazzo resorts.
Genting, however, says the two casinos in its proposed complex call for a primary casino with 550,000 square fee, plus an additional 250,000-square-foot casino. Sergio Bakas, the architect supervising the design, said he expected Resorts World Miami to be the largest casino resort in the world if current plans are approved.
Las Vegas Sands wants to build a hotel-casino complex in Miami’s Park West neighborhood.
Genting has drafted renderings for its proposed resort: six undulating towers rising as high as 58 stories with a mix of apartments and hotel rooms, with an outdoor lagoon, artificial beaches, and 50 restaurants throughout the campus.
Legislation introduced Wednesday in the Florida Legislature would allow three casino resorts as long as developers spent at least $2 billion to build them.
Las Vegas Sands reports third quarter earnings today and its expected Adelson will discuss the company’s plans in Miami.
