The multi-million dollar luxury condos in Las Vegas’ CityCenter have been renting out instead of selling turning the Las Vegas Strip into a residential community, just not in the way the developers intended.

So far 346 units in the multi-towered complex have been rented out in one- and two-year leases. The entire complex cost $9 billion and includes luxury condos, hotel rooms, gambling facilities and retail all owned by MGM Resorts International and Dubai World.

In the Veer towers, which were designed by famous architect Helmut Jahn, Las Vegas real-estate agent Anthony Phillips has aided renters in lease signings for as little as $1,390 a month. The Veer tower is a sloping yellow tower and has a rooftop pool, exercise room, a resident’s lounge and full concierge. Most of the one-bedroom units go for around $1,600 to $1,700 per month with two-bedroom units costing around $2,300 a month.

So who is renting these luxury condos? According to Phillips, he has rented some unites to people who work at CityCenter and other nearby casinos on the Strip, “including valet attendants and restaurant managers.”

Designed during the real estate bubble in Vegas and opened in 2009, CityCenter was built with 2,400 condo units. It was projected that the sales would bring in as much as $2.7 billion that would help to offset some of the building costs. MGM says that CityCenter is the most expensive private development ever built in the U.S. Records indicate that only 443 unites have been purchased with overall revenue of $384 million.

CityCenter has many hotel visitors, as occupancy at Aria, which is the main hotel and casino in the complex, was 90% during the second quarter of the year compared to 63% in the first few months of 2010 when it opened.

Source: Wall Street Journal