View Reviews for this hotel on Google
Cosmopolitan Hotel History
Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas is a resort casino, hotel and condo that broke ground in October 2005 just south of the Bellagio on the west side of the Las Vegas Strip and consists of two highrise towers. Projected to open in 2010, the $3.9 billion project will feature 2,200 condominium-hotel units; 800 hotel rooms; a 75,000 sq ft casino; 300,000 sq ft of retail and restaurant space; a 40,000 sq ft spa and fitness facility; an 1,800 seat theater; and 150,000 sq ft of meeting/convention space.
The Friedmutter Group is the Executive Architect. The building is engineered by DeSimone Consulting Engineers. The themed glass wall of the podium and the curtain wall is designed by Arquitectonica and is manufactured by Hong Kong based, Far East Aluminium Works Co. Ltd.. The Interior Design Team is Friedmutter Group, CAD International, The Rockwell Group and Bentel & Bentel. The hotel and casino will be managed by Global Hyatt Corporation, with the hotel opening as the Grand Hyatt Las Vegas.
The resort is being built on what used to be a small parking lot for a nearby midrise timeshare building called the Jockey Club. Because the Cosmopolitan will use much of the parking lot, it was agreed that the Club residents could use part of the Cosmpolitan's parking garage.
The project was begun by developer 3700 Associates, LLC, headed by Ian Bruce Eichner. The Cosmopolitan Resort is the second Las Vegas hotel, after the Palazzo hotel, to feature an underground parking garage underneath the hotel. As a result, the parking garage was built first. In December 2007, work finished on the 70-foot hole for the parking structure, while other foundation work remained in progress.
The casino was originally planned to be on the second floor, but this was later changed and the casino is now being built on ground level. Planned condo units were cancelled and replaced with studios and other hotel rooms.
In January 2008, it was reported that the $3.9 billion project faced foreclosure, as Eichner's company defaulted on a $760 million construction loan from Deutsche Bank when the developer missed a payment after failing to secure refinancing for the project. Construction still moved forward as the developers searched for new financing to bail out the project. In late February 2008, Global Hyatt Corporation and New York-based Marathon Asset Management agreed to recapitalize the condominium-hotel project. In March, 2008, the developer said Deutsche Bank AG would begin foreclosure proceedings. They bought the hotel for $1 billion during the summer and hired The Related Cos. to manage the construction.
In June 2008, Hearst Corp filed a trademark suit against the owners of the casino. Hearst owns the trademark to Cosmopolitan magazine. In March 2010, the suit was settled, and the resort was renamed Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.
In August 2008, it was announced that MGM Mirage, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Hyatt and Hilton were considering purchasing the property. It was speculated that MGM Mirage would integrate the project into Bellagio and CityCenter. In April 2009, the Sun reported that the hotel will be managed by Hilton and would become the Hilton's first in their new Denizen hotel line. Later that month, however, those plans changed; Starwood sued Hilton, claiming trade-secret theft.
In June 2009, 400 homeowners filed a lawsuit against the developers, claiming breach of contract and seeking refunds for their deposits. They believed that the projected finish date of June 2010 was unrealistic and expressed fear that the developers might turn the condo rooms into hotel rooms only or finish the building as a shell and not do any interior work.
In April 2010, it was announced that the Cosmopolitan would open in stages, beginning in December and ending in July 2011. It will be the only hotel-casino to open on the Strip in 2010.
In March 2010, the casino announced some chefs and restaurants that will open there. Some of them being, Bruce and Eric Bromberg's Blue Ribbon, Costas Spiliadis to open Estiatorio Milos, Scott Conant, who will open Scarpetta, and David Myers will open Comme Ca.
