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Vegas plans to add Venice to its Rome

By Jon Springer

LAS VEGAS -- Just call it the "Merchants of Venice"--via Las Vegas. A casino-resort under construction here intends to do the City of Canals, Vegas-style -- from re-creations of Doge's Palace, the Campanile tower and Rialto bridge to gondoliers singing "O Sole Mio" on the Grand Canal.

The Venetian, at the site of the former Sands Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip, is set to open its first phase in spring 1999. The retail component of the project, to be known as the Grand Canal Shoppes, will consist of 150 high-end shops along the Grand Canal. The stores will target the same market that made Forum Shops at Caesars Palace one of the most successful shopping centers in the United States in terms of sales per square foot.

Though no commitments were announced at presstime, Venetian officials say the center will feature prestigious retailers, many of whom will be appearing for the first time in Las Vegas.

"We're doing deals that make sense for us," said Robert Goldstein, executive vice president of The Venetian. "We want tenants who are unique to Las Vegas, and we're trying to do deals at all levels, from the high end to the mid-market and everything in between."

The Grand Canal Shoppes will differ from the Forum Shops in size and presentation. At 750,000 square feet (500,000 square feet of which will open in Phase 1), the Grand Canal Shoppes will contain more than twice the retail space of the Forum Shops. The center's design, a collaboration between Nevada-based WAT&G Inc., TSA of Nevada LLP, and Rissman and Rissman, incorporates a quarter-mile pedestrian mall winding along both sides of a canal featuring bridges, gondolas and a re-creation of Venice's St. Mark's Square. Stores will be designed using classic Venetian architecture, and the project is to be completely enclosed beneath a ceiling that will rise 70 feet high in some areas.

"Designwise, this will be spectacular. It will look and feel a lot different from the Forum Shops, a little more exciting if you will," said Mr. Goldstein. "We're great fans of the Forum project. We think they've done a great job. They've really raised the bar. Our goal, though, is to try to do better."

According to Mr. Goldstein, Venetian officials have received dozens of letters from retailers expressing interest in the project, including two department stores.

"Frankly, the demand for the space is terrific. We've turned down some tenants, especially those who are already here in Las Vegas three or four times," he said. "If we just wanted to lease it up and command the highest rents, we could do it very quickly. But we want to be selective."

A series of restaurants with international reputations will complement the high-end retailers. Among those scheduled to open at the resort include Wolfgang Puck's ObaChine; Pinot Vegas, created by Joachim Splichal of Los Angeles' famous Patina restaurant; Piero Selvaggio's Valentino; Grand Luxe Cafe, a new format from The Cheesecake Factory; and Carnivale, an authentic Venetian restaurant created by Larry Mindel of Il Fornaio.

Billboard Live, a four-level, 1,800-seat dining/performance venue, will showcase pop, jazz and blues artists. A branch of London's Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum will offer another attraction.

The resort will be able to attract a different type of visitor than many other Las Vegas venues, namely the convention-goer, said Kurt Ouchida, director of communications for The Venetian. The adjoining Sands Expo and Convention Center, currently expanding to 1.6 million square feet, is expected to draw 8 million convention admissions a year, he said.

Officials say conventions will help The Venetian avoid the high weekday vacancy rates common among Las Vegas resorts. As for weekends, "They kind of take care of themselves," Mr. Ouchida said.

"Las Vegas is in many respects the convention capital of the world, and the demographic we're going after has yet to be tapped into -- the conventioneer and the convention traveler," said Mr. Ouchida. "The kind of people who in four days of convention time complete 80% of their sales for the year. That will be a big demographic for us."

Mr. Ouchida said convention travelers differ from the typical Las Vegas tourist. "They have certain freedoms that people who are just visiting don't have -- expense accounts and things of that nature. They are not as risk-averse as your average tourist."

Studies have shown that the convention traveler spends less time at the gaming tables -- but gambles more per visit -- than the average Las Vegas visitor. Venetian officials are also counting on conventioneers to comprise the preponderance of shoppers at the Grand Canal Shoppes.

The all-suite twin hotel towers -- The Venetian, set for the Phase 1 opening, and The Lido, expected to open in 2000 -- each will feature 3,000 rooms. Both tower hotels and the Grand Canal Shoppes will have access to the Sands Expo center. The total project will encompass around 12 million square feet, making it the largest resort in Vegas and one of the largest in the world.

The Venetian project is owned by Las Vegas Sands Inc. Blatteis Realty, San Francisco, is overseeing the leasing of the project, and Forest City Enterprises, Cleveland, will manage the center. The Sands Hotel, formerly at the site, was imploded in 1996 to make way for The Venetian.