Palazzo slated to open in December

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Las Vegas Sands Corp. announced Wednesday it would open the $1.6 billion Palazzo on Dec. 20.

The 3,068-room resort, under construction next to The Venetian, will open its gaming area, hotel and restaurants, the company said during its second-quarter earnings conference call Wednesday.

The Shoppes at Palazzo, the property's 450,000-square-foot retail space that is anchored by Barneys New York, will open in January. The Palazzo theater, which will feature the Broadway musical "Jersey Boys," is expected to open in the spring.

When completed, The Venetian and Palazzo complex will represent the largest integrated destination resort in the world, with 7,128 hotel rooms and 2.3 million square feet of meeting, convention and exhibition space.

Because the Palazzo is being operated as an extension of The Venetian, Las Vegas Sands President Bill Weidner said, the company expected to obtain back-of-house and other operating savings of between $40 million and $60 million for the combined complex.

"The resort is designed to appeal to our important high-end Asian customer," Weidner said.

The Palazzo will be the first new resort to open on the Strip since the April 2005 opening of Wynn Las Vegas.