This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on May 19, 2017 - May 25, 2017

KUALA LUMPUR: Genting Group said its planned Resorts World Las Vegas (RWLV) in the US is expected to open its doors in 2020, a year later than the projected 2019 opening reported last year.

Genting Bhd president and chief operating officer Tan Kong Han said construction of RWLV is expected to start in the third quarter of this year under the leadership of newly appointed RWLV new president Edward Farrell.

“As the shareholder of RWLV, we have full confidence in Ed’s (Farrell’s) ability to lead a well-organised team of highly qualified professionals to collectively shepherd RWLV through development and into successful operation,” said Tan.

Tan said this in a statement issued by RWLV announcing Farrell’s new appointment.

The US$4 billion (RM17.32 billion) project was planned after Genting bought the Las Vegas property in March 2013 from Boyd Gaming Corp for US$350 million.

According to the statement, RWLV’s design and development team has, over the last one year, been perfecting plans for the multibillion-dollar integrated resort located in the Las Vegas Strip on the site of the former Stardust Casino.

RWLV said it will, in the next several months, ramp up construction activity on the site with the installation of tower cranes to commence work on the casino podium and hotel towers. “Site preparation and servicing work have already commenced and a large, 3,000-spot parking structure has been completed,” the statement read.

By next year, RWLV will employ some 1,000 construction workers on site and the number is expected to increase to several thousands more in the two years leading up to opening in 2020. Once in operation, RWLV said it would employ over 3,000 union employees.

“Significant time has been spent on design to ensure that Resorts World Las Vegas will not only feature the exciting gaming experience Genting customers all over the world have come to expect from us, but also to debut completely new and captivating entertainment concepts that will appeal to a wide range of visitors to Las Vegas — international and domestic alike,” said Farrell in the same statement.