MGM Mirage's Next Big Thing

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This is probably the most exciting thing I've heard in a while.

This morning, MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGG) announced its latest plan for the Las Vegas Strip: a multibillion-dollar "urban metropolis" spanning 66 acres between Bellagio and the Monte Carlo on the Strip. Dubbed Project CityCenter, the first phase will include a 4,000-room hotel and casino, three 400-room boutique hotels, 550,000 square feet of retail shops, dining, and entertainment, as well as 1,650 units of luxury condominium, hotel/condominium, and private residence clubs.

According to MGM Mirage, the site of Project CityCenter is approximately the same size of the Rockefeller Center, SoHo, and Times Square in New York City combined.

Not only will this project bring upscale housing directly to the Strip, but it also capitalizes on the mostly dead space between Bellagio and Monte Carlo. Its existence will further substantiate the rising value of the properties surrounding Project CityCenter: MGM Mirage already owns New York, New York and the Boardwalk few doors down and the MGM Grand across the street from that. And following the pending merger between MGM Mirage and Mandalay Resort Group (NYSE: MBG) (see The Logic of MGM-Mandalay), MGM Mirage will own all of the Monte Carlo as well.

The announcement also benefits Harrah's Entertainment (NYSE: HET) and merger partner Caesars Entertainment (NYSE: CZR) (see No Quick Win in Casino Merger), which owns Paris and Bally's across the street from the land to be developed.

MGM Mirage said the initial design would take 18 months and begin immediately. After that, the company expects construction of the first phase to take 42 months, with Project CityCenter's opening slated for 2010. In all, the project would create 7,000 construction jobs and 12,000 permanent positions upon completion.

With Las Vegas on fire, new developments are heating up. Towards the opposite end of the Strip, Wynn Resorts (Nasdaq: WYNN) expects to open Wynn Las Vegas this coming April, and Las Vegas Sands anticipates introduction of The Palazzo in 2007, next to The Venetian. Project CityCenter is next of the next big things in the build-out of the red-hot Las Vegas Strip.

For more on the gaming industry, check out:

• Penn National Bets on Argosy
• Ameristar is a Hold
• When a Hit is Not a Hit
• Harrah's/Caesars Expects Payoff

Fool contributor Jeff Hwang owns none of the companies mentioned above.