Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Goodman: CityCenter won’t hurt downtown Las Vegas

Mayor says downtown and Strip properties help each other bring in visitors

Oscar Goodman

Dave Toplikar

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said at a press conference today the CityCenter will help city’s downtown by bringing in more overall visitors to the area.

The Golden Nugget's Rush Tower

The Golden Nugget welcomed its first guests to its $150 million Rush Tower Friday. The 500-room tower includes four penthouses and 70 junior corner suites. Launch slideshow »

Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas

CityCenter's Mandarin Oriental makes it's Las Vegas debut.

Some might think the opening of CityCenter this month would draw traffic away from Las Vegas' downtown. But that's not the way Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman sees it.

"I think it's going to help us," Goodman said at his press conference Thursday morning. "I think when people come here and they have new things to experience, it benefits all of us."

For example, if plans are successful to build a sports arena downtown near where the existing City Hall sits, the arena will benefit the entire area, he said.

"When folks come in to see basketball games from New York, New Jersey or L.A., I think that's gonna benefit CityCenter," he said. "Folks will be staying there and having a good time in Las Vegas."

Goodman indicated a variety of attractions in the downtown that are different from what's available on the south part of the Strip, which is in unincorporated Clark County, help to create one large entertainment destination for tourists.

"I think we have a symbiotic effect on one another," Goodman said. "Our boundaries are really invisible boundaries. Nobody knows where the city starts and the city ends and where the county starts and the county ends. And I just think that any successful project will help all of us."

For example, the Golden Nugget, a downtown casino hotel that just opened its new Rush Tower, also has a new restaurant, the Chart House Aquarium Restaurant, that is proving to be popular, he said. In fact, one of his staff members couldn't get in, it was so crowded, he said.

"Everybody was raving about the food," he said. "I think any success breeds success for all of us."

Earlier in the press conference, Goodman said he had been to CityCenter Wednesday. He stopped in for about 15 minutes Wednesday night to attend a party at the new Mandarin Oriental, which he described as a "beautiful, beautiful hotel."

Although some people had told him they were concerned about access to the Mandarin, which opened Dec. 4, he said he found it easy to park.

"It was a beautiful experience," he said. "I wish them well. I think it's a can't miss. I'm really excited they're in our valley. I think it's really going to help tourism."

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