MGM to Add Tower to Bellagio

MGM Mirage, the No. 2 U.S. casino company, will spend $375 million to add a 925-room tower to the Bellagio casino, its most profitable property.

Construction will begin in mid-2003 and is scheduled for completion in December 2004. The tower will be on the south side of the casino’s main pool and courtyard.

The building of the tower is in response to rival casino companies’ plans. Mandalay Resort Group, for example, has announced that it will open a $200-million hotel tower at its Mandalay Bay casino next year.

And in June, Steve Wynn, the former chief executive of Mirage Resorts Inc., filed to sell stock in his planned $2.4-billion Le Reve casino resort .

It was MGM’s properties, particularly the Bellagio, that redefined the Strip.

MGM Mirage shares fell $1.79 to $34.50 on the New York Stock Exchange.