Meta Description: Built by Tutor Perini, the Aria Campus in Las Vegas is one of the most significant privately financed development projects in the US.
As one of the most prominent publicly traded construction companies in the U.S, Tutor Perini has roots dating back to 1894 and has completed large-scale, complex projects across various sectors, including infrastructure and transit, commercial, education, manufacturing and industrial, and mixed-use retail. Aria Campus, formerly known as CityCenter, is located between Bellagio and Park MGM and is among its most notable mixed-use retail developments.
Tutor Perini served as construction manager for CityCenter, a $6.4 billion MGM Resorts development now branded as Aria Campus. Let’s look at this monumental project.
A Sprawling Mixed-Use Complex
Then-MGM president and CFO Jim Murren envisioned Aria Campus as a flagship urban district in the heart of Las Vegas, similar to the walkable neighborhood enclaves in cities like New York and San Francisco. MGM announced the ambitious project in 2004, selecting a master plan by international architecture firm EE&K that included a resort and casino, hotels and condominiums, and retail space sprawled across 67 acres of land. Tutor Perini was awarded the $6.4 billion construction management contract.
True to its organizational ethos of “building relationships on trust,” Tutor Perini worked with its subsidiaries, Fisk Electric Company and Desert Mechanical Inc., on the $600 million electrical contract and $170 million plumbing contract, respectively. The company began early site work for the project by August 2005 and started pouring concrete for the foundation of what is now the Aria Resort and Casino in June 2006. At its peak, more than 10,000 craft workers were on site. Together, they put in more than 50 million hours building the mixed-use development, which opened in 2009.
Today, Aria Campus features 18 million square feet of mixed-use properties, including the 61-story, 4,004-room Aria Resort and Casino, which has multiple award-winning restaurants, 150,000 square feet of gaming space, 500,000 square feet of convention space, and an 80,000-square-foot salon and spa. The development also features the 57-story Vdara Hotel and Spa, 47-story Waldorf Astoria Las Vegas (formerly the Mandarin Oriental), 500,000-square-foot Shops at Crystals, and 37-story Veer Towers, a pair of glass towers that have a combined 670 condominium residences.
“No one has embarked on a development [of this scale] in this town,” said Murren upon announcing the project. “It’s hard to equate it to anything. We are going to be leaders in the reshaping of the valley into a global market.”
Other Features and Recent Additions
Aria Campus also has millions of dollars’ worth of public art installations adorning its grounds. The Aria Fine Art Collection features work by renowned artists like Claes Oldenburg, Richard Long, and Maya Lin. There are also various water features, including a light-up fountain that produces different choreographed patterns near the property’s main entrance. A 24-foot-high, 270-foot-long water wall cascades near the outer entrance circle.
Environmental Considerations
Among other environmental features, the site features an 8.5-megawatt natural gas cogeneration plant that fulfills some of the campus’ electricity needs. Moreover, the bulk of the debris from the Boardwalk hotel, which was demolished to clear space for the project, was recycled and used to construct Aria Campus buildings.
CityCenter received more LEED Gold certifications than any other Las Vegas mixed-use development at that time.
Awards and Accolades
The hotels and resorts at Aria Campus have received several awards and impressive distinctions since opening. The Aria Resort and Casino is a AAA Five Diamond Hotel and currently has more than a dozen world-class restaurants, two of which are led by James Beard Award-winning Chefs Michael Mina and Jean Georges Vongerichten. It was also named to the U.S. News & World Report‘s Best Hotels list.
Aria Sky Suites has been recognized as a AAA Five-Diamond Hotel and named to Forbes Travel Guide’s Most Luxurious Hotels in the World. TripAdvisor, meanwhile, ranked it No. 4 on its Best Luxury Hotels in the US list.
Tutor Perini’s Landmark Achievement in Complex Construction
From its earliest site work to the final architectural finishes, the Aria Campus stands as a powerful testament to Tutor Perini’s construction expertise on a massive and highly complex scale. Executing the $6.4 billion project required precise coordination of trades, innovative building techniques, and the management of tens of thousands of workers across millions of square feet—all within the demanding environment of the Las Vegas Strip. The successful delivery of the Aria Campus not only transformed the skyline but also reinforced Tutor Perini’s reputation for constructing landmark projects that push technical boundaries and set enduring standards for quality, safety, and performance.
