Dive Brief:

• Resorts World Casino New York City tapped Plaza Construction to be construction manager for the 500,000-square-foot second phase of a $400 million expansion at its casino property in Jamaica, New York. As the only casino in the city, the Queens venue attracts 10 million visitors a year.
• In addition to expanding gaming space, Plaza will oversee construction of a 10-story, four-star hotel to feature five-star suites, conference and meeting rooms, food and beverage space, retail and more. 
• Perkins Eastman and Cosentini Associates, both based in New York City, are providing architectural and structural engineering services, respectively. The project, which will provide 1,000 construction jobs, is already underway, with the first portion expected to open this summer and final completion scheduled for the end of 2020. 

Dive Insight:

“We are excited to work with Plaza Construction to bring to life our vision for an unrivaled entertainment and hospitality destination in Southeast Queens,” said Scott Molina, president of Resorts World Casino New York City, in a press release. “This new play, stay, dine and shop development will create good-paying jobs and generate significant revenue for our surrounding community and [for the state]."

The Resorts World line of properties, which includes a $4 billion hotel and casino development currently under construction in Las Vegas, is owned by Malaysian company Genting Group. The Resorts World Las Vegas project initially experienced delays in starting construction, with the first phase originally scheduled to open last year, and recently was involved in a design-focused legal dispute with its neighbor, Wynn Resorts. 

Wynn alleged that Genting was using the same design as its Wynn Las Vegas and Encore hotel casinos to capitalize on the Wynn brand. The two eventually settled the dispute after Genting agreed to alter the exterior design of its project. When built out, Resorts World Las Vegas will offer a total of 7,000 hotel rooms, conference space, Chinese-themed attractions and other resort amenities. 

Plaza, which is owned by China Construction America, a subsidiary of state-owned China State Construction Engineering Corp., is also the contractor behind the $540 million, Arquitectonica-designed SkyRise Miami entertainment and observation tower, scheduled to start construction this year. The 1,000-foot-tall structure will feature attractions such as an indoor drop-style ride with a 95-mph descent speed and a 908-foot-high “skywalk,” as well as restaurants, event and ballroom space and a conference center. The tower, which is slated to be the tallest building in Florida when complete, is expected to open for business in 2023.