Work to Restart on Bethlehem Casino-Mall-Hotel

Completion would accomplish what company set out to bring to city: casino, hotel, mall, events center.

Exterior of the mall at the Sands Casino Resort in Bethlehem Tuesday. (KEVIN MINGORA, THE MORNING CALL / January 25, 2011)

By Matt Assad, OF THE MORNING CALL, 01.25.2011

Sands casino is preparing to restart construction on its 3,600-seat events center and its upscale shopping mall in south Bethlehem, sources close to the project say.

Credit problems and a bad economy halted both projects in November 2008, but Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem executives are close to completing deals to resume them soon, according to sources who asked not to be identified because they are not authorized by Sands to discuss the project.

Completion would accomplish all four major pieces of what Sands set out to do in Bethlehem: a casino, a hotel, a mall and an events center.

Increased revenues at the casino, the scheduled completion of Sands' 300-room hotel in May and an opportunity to attract upscale retailers that want to open quickly has Sands executives ready to restart construction earlier than expected.

Union officials are already looking forward to the hundreds of jobs that will be created during construction.

"They've been talking about restarting construction on the mall and convention center, and it's not surprising because to this point, they've honored all of their commitments to the community," said Kevin Lott, business manager for the Lehigh Valley Carpenters Union. "Beyond that, I'd rather let Sands make their own announcements."

Sands officials would not confirm that the construction projects will resume. However, Sands published an ad seeking bids for the mall project in the Jan. 24 issue of Construction News Weekly.

The ad, by Sands and its architects, RTKL Associates, asks for general construction bids, by invitation only, for the "retail commons fit-out" needed to prepare the mall for the arrival of retailers.

"We are making significant progress on a variety of construction projects," Bethlehem spokeswoman Jennifer Reese said. "But we're not able to provide additional details at this time."

Sands is looking to begin building its events center as early as this spring, sources say, and has already been given corporate approval to resume interior finishing of a shopping mall that is expected to be home to several upscale shops and restaurants in time for the Christmas shopping season.

The events center, which would also include space for meetings and conferences, is 20 percent complete.

The mall is 80 percent finished. Last week, Sands officials ordered the installation of two escalators that will carry casino patrons into the mall.

Sources say Sands officials decided not to wait because revenues at its casino have increased steadily, and having a nearly complete malls gives the casino an advantage in attracting upscale retailers looking to open new outlets at the front of the improving economy.

"My understanding is that they are making significant progress on both projects," Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan said. "We hope to make an announcement soon."

Las Vegas Sands was in the middle of building $12 billion worth of new casino complexes worldwide when the global recession hit hard in the fall of 2008. That prompted Sands to forge ahead with projects that could bring quick revenue, such as its casino in Bethlehem, while halting several others, including its hotel, mall and events center in Bethlehem.

In May 2009 Sands opened its Bethlehem casino with more than 3,000 slot machines. When table games (such as craps and blackjack) arrived last year, Sands resumed construction of the 300-room hotel slated to open in May. Company executives said then the mall and events center would have to wait for the economy and credit markets to improve.

City officials assumed that meant next year, but Sands officials appear to have decided the time is now.

They're attempting to close a deal with Allentown-based Trainer Enterprises, owner of Steel Ice Center in south Bethlehem, to complete the events center. The two sides have been negotiating since last summer, and sources say they're close to striking a deal that would have Sands finish building a complex that would be leased to Trainer's investment group and managed by international concert promoting giant LiveNation.

Las Vegas Sands Corp. President and Chief Operating Officer Michael Leven last June said talks with the Trainer group were going well.

Call Project Technology Solutions today to arrange a live demonstration of the power of web based construction software.

Project Technology Solutions (ProTech)
Preferred Dealer for Procore - Web Based Construction Software
866-570-4640

Posted by ProTech at 1/26/2011 5:24 PM
Categories: Construction News
Tags: bethlehem casino Construction cloudware protech procore dealer web based construction software
 

What did you think of this article?




Trackbacks
Trackback specific URL for this post
  • No trackbacks exist for this post.
Comments
Display comments as (Linear | Threaded)

Leave a comment

 Name

 Email (will not be published)

 Website

Your comment is 0 characters limited to 3000 characters.