Yet the real star, many who were involved now say, was Baldwin. It was his job to persuade the bankers that his construction schedule would stick, that he could complete CityCenter for its December openings. If he failed, the purse strings would be severed, and it wasn’t easy given that two analyst teams determined it couldn’t be done. “They weren’t used to the fast-tracked Las Vegas marketplace, where you can put a casino together virtually overnight if you have enough information,” Baldwin says. “They just compared our schedule to a typical construction and found it was far more aggressive than they’d ever seen.”

Baldwin’s schedule proved true, so this week Las Vegas greets the debut of the Mandarin Oriental, Vdara, and Crystals. Aria bows on December 16 and Veer opens next year; the Harmon’s status remains unclear.

This week’s panic over the potential for Dubai World to collapse is the first time a major economic trend is not expected to harm CityCenter or MGM Mirage, said Union Gaming Group analyst Rich Moriarty.

"There is no impact to CityCenter or MGM Mirage as the project is fully funded, and management at MGM Mirage were very clever about the deal they structured with DW, protecting them from such an event as default," said Moriarty said via email from Singapore, where he is assessing that city-state’s casino projects. "MGM Mirage will have right of first refusal in the event the project is liquidated, and MGM is responsible for any costs above and beyond the budget."

Baldwin concedes it’s a tricky moment. Nevada faces the nation’s top foreclosure rate, a record unemployment rate, and a precipitous drop in tourism. Murren predicts CityCenter will spur a recovery and increase visitation by 7 percent in 2010, but the 35 million expected to come in this year will have been the lowest count since 1999, and that bump would only restore Vegas to its 2003 count.

What he’s not concerned about is all the publicity. They’ve “taken our best shot,” he says, and it’s time to open up.

“The issues of Harmon, they fade away because they have no consequence,” he says. “Things like Harmon that have a negative 'overhaze' will disappear, the recapitalization of the joint venture back in April and May were headlines for months and months and months, but that’s over now. Now we look ahead.”