MGM Grand Cancels Plans for Vegas Hotel

MGM Grand Inc. said it canceled plans to build a 1,500-room hotel with Marriott International Inc. next to MGM’s hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip and will concentrate instead on new construction in other cities. The hotel would have been managed by Bethesda, Md.-based Marriott as a Marriott Marquis Hotel. Las Vegas-based MGM, owner of the largest casino resort in the gambling mecca, plans to build hotel and casino operations in Detroit and Atlantic City, N.J. In January, MGM Grand Chief Executive Terrence Lanni called for restrictions on hotel construction in Las Vegas, where overbuilding has hurt casino profits. Three big Las Vegas hotels are opening this year, and the added competition is forcing casino operators to cut room prices and spend more on promotions. MGM intends to build a hotel adjacent to its Las Vegas conference center sometime in the future, depending on market conditions, President Alex Yemenidjian said. On the New York Stock Exchange, MGM Grand’s shares fell 6 cents to close at $38.06; Marriott’s shares rose 44 cents to close at $37.38.