Newest CityCenter Building Tops Out

ARIA Resort & Casino Reaches Final Height.

ARIA Resort & Casino at CityCenter, Las Vegas, Nev.

CityCenter has topped off its ARIA Resort & Casino. The 4,000-room gaming resort stands 61 stories tall, and is the second building to reach height at the $9 billion CityCenter.

Designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli, ARIA features two curvilinear glass towers that incorporate an extensive use of natural light. Construction for ARIA began with a mass excavation in April 2006, and the foundation was poured two months later. The towers used 245,000 cu yds of concrete and 1,700 construction workers have worked on the project. The tower will be fully enclosed by December.

United Begins Work on New LEED Gold Office

United Construction Co. has begun construction on a new building that will house the company's corporate offices. The new facility will be located at 5300 Mill St. in Reno.

"Not only will this be an improvement in our facility, our effort to achieve LEED status speaks to our commitment to the program," says Craig Willcut, president and CEO of United. "We are actively pursuing LEED gold certification, which will make the building only the second in northern Nevada to achieve that status."

Once completed, the building will include interior courtyards, lighting control systems to reduce energy use and recycled building materials purchased from local sources to minimize gas consumption. Every workstation will have a view of the outside with natural sunlight providing 95% or more of necessary light. A 70% savings in outdoor water use with turf-less landscaping and a drip watering system.

The 12,350-sq-ft facility is scheduled for completion in January.

KONE will Get People Moving at McCarran's Terminal 3

KONE will supply and install elevators, transit escalators and autowalks for the new Terminal 3 at McCarran International Airport. Once installed, the KONE solutions will be an integral part of McCarran's facility plans that enable safe and efficient handling of massive people flows of over 50 million passengers per year. The value of the deal is approximately $43.6 million.

The airport expansion will include a new terminal building with an elevated roadway structure fronting the facility, over-roadway pedestrian bridges, people-moving Automated Transit System and an aircraft ramp.

The installation of KONE's solutions is expected to start in the fall of 2009 and is estimated to be completed by December 2011. With eco-efficient products and services, McCarran will receive the benefit from lowered energy consumption, reduced construction material needs and improved operating efficiency.

MacDonald Highlands Moves Forward

MacDonald Highlands, a custom home community located in the southeast Las Vegas valley, is forging ahead with its growth plans for the development, and has an estimated $160 million worth of new home construction and community enhancements currently underway.

This includes the expansion of the community's DragonRidge Country Club. Construction is underway on the Jack Nicklaus Academy of Golf, which is set to open in early 2009. A 14,000 sq-ft state-of-the-art fitness facility will open in the spring.

"While we certainly understand the challenges of our current real estate market, we feel that our growth is evidence that the luxury sector is staying the course and focusing on the long-term rather than the short-term," says Rich MacDonald, developer of MacDonald Highlands.

To submit news items and press releases, please email to: scott_blair@mcgraw-hill.com