Adelson still vowing to expand Venetian

Friday, Oct. 20, 2000 | 11:21 a.m.

Venetian owner

Sheldon Adelson, chairman of the Venetian, today joined in the announcement that a Hermitage-Guggenheim branch will be built at his property.

"Las Vegas receives an astonishing 35 million visitors a year. The Hermitage-Guggenheim Museum will be a tremendous attraction for those visitors. By collaborating with the Guggenheim and Hermitage museums, the Venetian will bring some of the greatest masterpieces ever created to a city that is rapidly being transformed into a world-class travel destination," Adelson said in a statement.

Venetian resort owner Sheldon Adelson, the subject of a flattering story in Business Week, says he still plans to expand the megaresort.

"This will be the highest-grossing hotel in the history of hotels," Adelson is quoted as saying in the Oct. 23 edition of Business Week.

The magazine said Adelson plans to add 1,000 rooms next to the main hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in 2001 -- a fact disclosed by the Venetian Sept. 19.

Business Week also said Adelson hopes to add another 3,000 rooms and a casino on land nearby.

Officials of Las Vegas Sands Inc., Adelson's company that owns the Venetian, have had little to say recently about this long-planned 3,000-room second phase. It has been on hold for some time after the Venetian initially struggled to meet its financial targets because of construction problems that caused the resort to open in phases instead of all at once as planned in May 1999.

But now, Business Week reported, business is booming at the Venetian as Adelson is attracting business and convention travelers who gamble large sums and pay top dollar -- more than $200 per night -- to stay in the Venetian's spacious suites.

Business Week quoted an analyst as saying the Venetian trails only Bellagio, the Mirage and Paris Las Vegas in profitability per square foot among Strip resorts.

The magazine reported Adelson is succeeding while at the same time fighting the Culinary Union, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and the resort's contractor.