Las Vegas sighs with relief after Malaysian gaming group invests

For nearly five years, the steel-and-concrete skeleton of the abandoned resort project has taunted this city, a glaring reminder that casino operators here can't win every economic wager they place. The stalled Echelon project sits on hallowed gambling ground: It's where the old Stardust casino was imploded. Construction on the new $4-billion resort began in 2007 and froze a year later -- a failure so embarrassing that city officials later ordered owner Boyd Gaming Corp. to build barriers to hide the remains. But those walls will soon come down because the property has been purchased by an Asian gaming powerhouse -- one indication that Las Vegas' devastated economy is on the mend. It's the kind of comeback that is giving rise to guarded hopes, while not vigorous enough yet to inspire the kind of all-in bet the city is famous for. The Malaysia-based Genting Group bought the 87-acre ghost town last month, announcing plans to build a $2-billion, China-themed resort with a replica of the Great Wall, faux terra cotta warriors and displays for live pandas. "The fact that a major foreign company wants to take a risk on the Strip is a pretty fair argument that things are turning around," said Jeremy Aguero, principal analyst for the Las Vegas-based research firm Applied Analysis. "You can almost hear the sigh of relief in this community." The metropolitan