As extravagant as hotels in Las Vegas have become, the next stage of uber-spectacular may arrive when the $8 billion CityCenter project opens next Fall on The Strip, and Apple will reportedly be part of the project. Developed by Mirage MGM and designed by eight architects with distinctly-different styles, the complex of towers on 76 acres south of the Bellagio hotel will feature condominiums, hotels, casinos and 500,000 square-feet of retail space within several uniquely-designed spaces. According to an insider, Apple has been selected to anchor the project’s most visible retail space on Las Vegas Boulevard, spanning two levels and covering over 20,000 square-feet. When it opens, there will be four Apple stores in the city along a four-mile section of The Strip.
The retail and public area of the project, called The Crystals, was co-designed by Studio Daniel Libeskind and Adamson Associates Architects. According to the Libeskind Web site, the retail spaces will be housed, “within crystalline, metal-clad shapes” set right along The Strip. “A dramatic entryway into the retail area from the Strip will draw pedestrians into the public arcade, covered by an expressive, spiraling roof structure,” the Web site states. The project’s public spaces will also allow for a variety of urban experiences, the design firm says, including a water feature at the entry, cafés and a grand staircase leading to Casino Square.
Even compared to Apple’s existing high-profile stores, the CityCenter retail spaces are extravagent. Architect’s renderings show the storefronts as all-glass, framed by irregular geometric shapes, and leaning at varying angles.
The project is currently under construction, and you can see a live Webcam view here. You can find more architect’s renderings here.
In this overall view of the project looking west, the retail space is at the bottom-center of the rendering, right along The Strip.
The retail stores will occupy the all-glass, irregularly-shaped spaces shown here along The Strip. Apple will probably occupy the center area of this set of spaces.
Here is the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard (The Strip) and the complex entrance drive. Notice there is no set-back from the sidewalk, as there is with many of the other large hotels.
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So is this store still planned?
The City Center project was so delayed by various lawsuits, a construction death and other problems that it’s likely that Apple decided not to be part of the original venture. A scouting trip through the project found lots of space where Apple might locate, but no sign of anything immediate. Perhaps some day.