After making little progress over the past year, Genting Group has revealed that full-scale construction on its giant Resorts World Las Vegas resort casino is expected to begin in earnest during the fourth quarter.

Despite breaking ground on the 3,000-room development for the north end of the Las Vegas Strip on May 5th of last year, Genting has since carried out only minor work on the $4 billion Nevada project.

However, company officials recently appeared before the Nevada Gaming Control Board in order to receive approvals for a range of applications including suitability findings for a choice of executives and corporate entities and stated that the China-themed resort casino is now expected to open in early-2019. The three-member panel gave its unanimous blessing with the applications subsequently sent to the Nevada Gaming Commission for a final approval anticipated in two weeks.

Gerald Gardner, general counsel for Resorts World Las Vegas, stated that activity on the 87-acre site Genting purchased from Boyd Gaming in 2013 would start to increase during the summer.

The finished development designed by architect Steelman Partners is making use of the partially constructed towers of Boyd Gaming’s cancelled Echelon project and is expected to offer 150,000 sq ft of gaming space alongside an indoor water park, a panda exhibit, an aquarium and a 4,000-seat theatre centred on a 56-story tower.