Aladdin retail developer happy to see Paris open

Phil Levine

Tuesday, Sept. 7, 1999 | 10:53 a.m.

Set against a desert backdrop, one of Hollywood's most famous final scenes finds Humphrey Bogart speculating about the future with his French colleague- in-arms.

"Louis," he says, "this could be the start of a beautiful friendship."

Fast forward five decades, and a similar scenario is in play in another desert locale.

With last week's opening of Paris Las Vegas, the Eiffel Tower and Louvre now denote a permanent French presence along the Las Vegas Strip.

Directly next door to Paris, TrizecHahn Development Corp.'s Desert Passage retail complex hopes to capitalize on a "beautiful friendship" with its Parisian neighbor.

The developer is building the $250 million complex as the retail and entertainment arm of the $1.3 billion Aladdin hotel-casino project. In addition to Desert Passage, the new Aladdin will proffer 2,600 hotel rooms, the 7,000-seat Theater for the Performing Arts and a London Clubs International gaming area.

TrizecHahn hopes Desert Passage's 500,000 square feet of "experience retail" -- featuring 130 upscale retail and dining merchants -- will rapidly become a retail rite of passage for Las Vegas shoppers. The project's dining amenities will run the gamut from Commander's Palace, an award-winning New Orlean's eatery, to New York's famed Blue Note Jazz Club.

The vast complex will focus primarily on high-end customers. Upper-market retailers signed on to the project so far include Sephora -- already present at the Venetian hotel-casino -- as well as Aveda and Origins.

TrizecHahn spokeswoman Janene Kraft welcomed the timely arrival of her Parisian neighbor.

"We were very pleased to see Paris come in on time, because when a major project misses its announced deadline, we all suffer," said Kraft. "And we're also very impressed with the authenticity and attention to detail. Paris Las Vegas has really raised the bar for the rest of us."

Slated to open next summer, Desert Passage developers have so far refused to tie themselves down to a specific opening date.

"We want to be sure we can open when we say we will," said Kraft.

Billed as a unique "exotic shopping adventure," Desert Passage merchants will be part of an "experience retail" center taking visitors on a cross-continental tour of the Middle East.

Designed to reproduce the feel of a Mediterranean journey, shoppers enter the complex through Gibraltar Gate. They may then proceed into the Lost City, a design based on the lost Jordanian city of Petra. Other themed "destinations" include the Sultan's Palace, an area featuring exotic home furnishings; Harbor Gate, representing a North African harbor village complete with rainfall from the sea; and India Gate, an area featuring ornamental Indian architecture.

Along with its $430 million Hollywood & Highland entertainment complex in Los Angeles, the Desert Passage project plays a key role in the evolution of TrizecHahn. The company, headquartered in Toronto, was formed from the 1996 merger of Horsham Corp. and Trizec Corp.; it now controls more than $6.5 billion in North American real estate.

With a $250 million price tag, TrizecHahn is betting a lot -- even by Las Vegas standards -- on the appeal of its "experience retail" project. Seeing itself as distinct from other well-established Las Vegas retail complexes -- such as the Forum Shops at Caesars or the Fashion Show Mall -- TrizecHahn officials are convinced that a new millennium brings with it a new era in shopping.

"We are offering a more all-inclusive experience than other malls," said Kraft. "The Forum Shops, for example, is structured as really more of a traditional mall. But our sense of the market is that people are really screaming for this different type of retail experience."

George Connor concurs.

"The next 6 million visitors to this market will be mostly young, affluent and the type of retail that will be offered at the Aladdin should suit them well," said Connor, senior vice president of Colliers International Retail Division in Las Vegas. "There's also no question this market has traditionally been underserved by retailers. For instance, if you compare Las Vegas to Hawaii, we have about 25 percent less retail on a per-capita basis."

However, in a low unemployment market where quality service sector employees are in high demand, Connor said Desert Passage will likely confront "a significant challenge" in finding good help.

Still, attracting quality workers to Las Vegas is not as insurmountable a task as it likely would have been only a few years ago.

"The fact is that, these days, everyone wants to be here," said Connor. "Even though retailers, such as those at Aladdin, will likely have to recruit from outside the area, there should be no shortage of quality people of all stripes interested in moving here."