Finishing the job

MGM Mirage and Dubai World -- the investment arm of the Persian Gulf emirate -- ended a five-week feud Wednesday by agreeing to a comprehensive plan to fully fund and complete the $8.5 billion CityCenter development on the Las Vegas Strip.

The agreement ends speculation that one of the largest-ever privately funded construction projects in the United States might end up in bankruptcy. Such a move would have halted work on the project and shelved the jobs of some 8,500 construction workers.

CityCenter, which covers 76 acres of the Strip between Bellagio and Monte Carlo and is scheduled to open in phases starting in October, is expected to provide between 10,000 and 12,000 permanent jobs.

MGM Mirage now has until June 30 to come up with a plan to refinance $13.5 billion of long-term debt.

To get that extension, MGM Mirage secured $300 million in new credit by pledging its Gold Strike casino in Tunica, Miss., as well as with undeveloped land on the Strip.

MGM Mirage also could end up selling some of its hotel-casinos in Las Vegas and in other jurisdictions.

"This removes a large cloud hanging over the project," commented Southern Nevada Building and Construction Trades spokesman Steve Redlinger. "Workers can go home tonight and know they can come back to work tomorrow and the next day and the next day until the project is completed."

Indeed. A half-completed CityCenter, allowed to stand rusting and idle, would have left the center of the Strip looking like a showgirl's smile with a couple of teeth missing. That's the last thing Las Vegas needed, right now.

Congratulations to all who participated in this decision to "double down" and get the job done.