$250-Million Vegas Revamp Is Planned by MGM Grand

LAS VEGAS — MGM Grand Inc., owner of the $1-billion MGM Grand hotel and casino in Las Vegas, on Monday unveiled a $250-million plan to transform the Emerald City-themed hotel into a “City of Entertainment.”

The four-phase program will add stores and entertainment venues, a convention center, parking and redesign the lion’s-head entry along Las Vegas’ famed Strip.

“We believe we have the best name in entertainment, and the [hotel] has to coincide with that,” Alex Yemenidjian, chief financial officer, said in a telephone interview. “Entertainment is a very powerful theme.”

He said MGM Grand will shift its emphasis from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer movie characters and include a range of other characters and movies throughout film history. He said the company has licensed rights to many non-MGM characters, such as Betty Boop and the Three Stooges.

The MGM Grand hotel--the world’s largest, with 5,005 rooms--will spend $30 million on a new entry on the Strip, to serve as a gateway to the Emerald City casino, the worst-performing section of the complex.

MGM Grand shares fell $1.125 to close at $39.875 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Exterior construction near the lion’s head will include 80-foot “entertainment” walls with light and multimedia shows running continuously.

A $45-million, 300,000-square-foot convention center will be built on a portion of the MGM Grand Adventures theme park, adjacent to the hotel.

MGM Grand will spend $8 million to reconfigure the theme park, which has performed below expectations. It will open a new ride, the SkyScreamer, in the summer and relocate and lengthen its roller coaster.

Adjacent to the theme park, the company will spend $60 million to build a 300,000-square-foot entertainment and retail complex. Details of this project were undisclosed.

Other projects include a $20-million renovation of the food court and arcade into a restaurant- and entertainment-oriented venue, a $30-million renovation of luxury suites and various other renovations.

Construction will begin in June and is expected to be completed the project over 30 months.

“I don’t think there’s any surprise, but when people get a chance to see [the full plan], it’ll be pretty exciting,” said David Wolfe, an analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. MGM Grand said it expects the plan to be “very positive” to its earnings, which soared to $34.5 million, or 70 cents a share, in the first quarter ended in March, from $5.5 million, or 11 cents a share, in the year-ago period.