Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

Originally set to open in 2009, Las Vegas Sands faced delays caused by escalating costs of material and labour shortages from the onset. The severe global financial crisis also pressured the company to delay its projects elsewhere in order to complete the Singapore IR. Although Marina Bay Sands has been compared on scale and development costs to MGM's CityCenter, the latter is a mixed-use development, with condominium properties - comprising three of the seven main structures, being sold off. The resort was officially opened with a 2-day celebration on 23 June 2010 at 3.18 pm, after a partial opening earlier in April. The museum, theatres and floating pavilions are still being built and are expected to be fully completed by December 2010.
Marina Bay Sands is one of two winning proposals for Singapore's first Integrated Resorts, the other being the Resorts World Sentosa, which incorporates a family-friendly Universal Studios Theme Park. The two large-scale resorts were conceived to meet Singapore's economic and tourism objectives for the next decade and they will have 30-year casino licenses, exclusive for the first ten years.