Boyd Gaming's $4.8 billion Echelon casino and hotel project in Las Vegas is one of the latest victims of the credit crunch.
Boyd announced Aug. 1 that it was putting the project on hold because of problems securing financing.
The project was already under construction, with about 800 workers on the 87-acre site where the Stardust, Westward Ho and Budget Suites used to sit.
The company said it expected to resume construction when credit market conditions and the overall outlook for the economy improved.
"The current economic climate is unprecedented in recent years," Keith Smith, president and CEO of Boyd Gaming, said in announcing the delay. "While we remain enthusiastic about the long-term prospects for the Las Vegas market and Echelon, this is the right decision for our company at this time."
He added that "we remain fully committed to Echelon and convinced that it will produce long-term, sustainable growth for our company in the years to come."
The four-hotel, 5,000-room development was initially supposed to open in the third quarter of 2010. Boyd Gaming was to own and operate the Echelon Resort, a 3,300-room hotel. The three other hotels were to be the Shangri-La, Delano and Mondrian.
Boyd said it hoped to renegotiate its agreements with its partners in the project, including Morgans Hotel Group, which had a 50/50 partnership on the Delano and Mondrian hotels.
Last month, Morgans obtained an extension on its deadline to secure construction financing until Sept. 15 for those hotels. But Morgans said it now "believes that the joint venture will be unable to secure financing at favorable rates and conditions."
Just a few days before the Echelon announcement, MGM Mirage said it and its partner, Dubai World, had run into delays securing more than $3 billion in financing for their $9.2 billion CityCenter project in Las Vegas, considered the most expensive private commercial development in U.S. history. The company said a deal was expected in the next few weeks, and no delays in construction were anticipated.