The Harmon Hotel - City Center
Concept drawing of the complete project, "City Center" including the planned 49-storey "Harmon Hotel"
Photo Credit: e-architect
Announced in 2004, Project City Center was a mixed-used complex featuring multiple hotels, casinos, restaurants and a massive shopping & entertainment complex. With a budgeted cost of over $9 Billion, the development was the largest privately-funded construction project in the history of the United States.
Part of the complex included The Harmon hotel, a 49-storey non-gaming luxury boutique hotel with 400 hotel rooms and 200 high-end condominium residences.
Construction on The Harmon began in 2007 but came to a screeching halt in late 2008 when major defects in the construction were found after 15 stories of the building had already been completed. Building inspectors discovered structural work didn't match plans submitted and that a third-party inspector had falsified dozens of reports surrounding building code violations.
In an effort to save the project, developers made the decision to scrap the 200 condo units and cap the tower at 28 stories rather than the originally planned 49 stories.
Concept drawing showing the reduced size of The Harmon hotel, being changed from 49 stories to 28 stories
Photo Credit: Las Vegas Weekly
However, in July 2011, a report was released by an engineering firm surrounding the structural integrity of the building. According to the report, the work that had been performed was so "out of code" that the building was virtually unrepairable and went on to say that if a major earthquake were to occur in the Las Vegas area, the Harmon was likely to partially or entirely collapse.
Illustration showing the location of The Harmon hotel
Photo Credit: City Center & Las Vegas Review-Journal
In August of 2011, MGM - the developers of the project - made the decision to demolish The Harmon and, following a long legal battle with their contractor, demolition was approved in April of 2014.
However, because of The Harmon's close proximity to other buildings on the Las Vegas Strip, it couldn't be imploded the way other hotels & resorts had been. It was going to have to be taken down brick-by-brick, floor-by-floor and in June of 2014, the process began.
Gallery of photos showing the process of demolition of The Harmon
Photo Credit: Vital Vegas
Demolition was completed in the fall of 2015 at an estimated cost of $11.5 Million. By comparison, it was believed that the cost to repair The Harmon - had it been repairable - would have been in the area of $20 Million.
To this day, the site where The Harmon was built remains vacant & tucked away from public view, with no word of what might eventually be built in that location.