The builders of the last multibillion-dollar casino funded in Las Vegas before the economy faltered have turned over the
John Unwin, CEO of the $3.9 billion Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, symbolically accepted the keys to the resort Friday in a ceremony with all 5,000 employees hired to work at the Las Vegas Strip casino owned by German lender Deutsche Bank AG.
Ron Wackrow, vice president of development for construction manager Related Cos., told The Associated Press that the last of several restaurants and retail stores within the 8.5-acre development should get their permits by Monday.
Wackrow said the building passed its inspections and received its temporary certificate of occupancy from county officials last month.
The casino is scheduled to open Dec. 15, and the certificate gives the Cosmopolitan the ability to use the building and open it to the public.
Wackrow said it was more important for Cosmopolitan employees to get early access to the building than previous casinos built by gambling's biggest companies.
"They had sister properties to train at, so the criticality of getting occupancy to the building may not have been as important as it was for us," Wackrow said. "But we had no place else to train."
The resort is expected to include nearly 3,000 rooms — with about one-third delayed until July — along with a 100,000-square-foot casino with 1,500 slot machines and 83 table games.
State gambling regulators approved the Cosmopolitan for a casino license in October.
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