the newly acquired property were to be used for roadways to alleviate traffic congestion, while the other 22 acres would remain available for future development, possibly as a residential component. In Echelon Place's design plans submitted to the County Commission, Boyd Gaming included the option of converting up to 1,000 rooms in the Delano and Mondrian hotels to condominiums, although the company had no intentions of adding condominiums to the project and only included them in the design plans as a potential option. Boyd Gaming executives were concerned about overbuilding of condominiums in Las Vegas and a possible lack of demand for them. The Stardust was closed on November 1, 2006, and its 32-story tower was imploded on March 13, 2007. Because of Boyd Gaming's inexperience with retail, the company partnered with General Growth Properties (GGP) in May 2007. Under the deal, GGP would co-develop and manage the Echelon project's $500 million shopping mall, while financing $100 million of the cost. Construction and cancellation A groundbreaking ceremony for the project occurred on June 19, 2007, and was attended by approximately 200 people. By that point, the name had been shortened to "Echelon". The project's opening was expected for the third quarter of 2010. At the time of groundbreaking, the cost of the project had grown to $4.8 billion, with the two hotels by Morgans Hotel Group expected to cost a total of $950 million. The $800 million increase on the project's overall cost was partly due to increased costs on construction materials. Bill Boyd, the chairman of Boyd Gaming, said that the company "made the right decision" in delaying its Stardust redevelopment plans a decade earlier: "The time that we took allowed for our company to build a much greater foundation. We can see there is a demand for this type of project now and we believe the demand will be there when we're ready to open." The Echelon project would include , and would take up nearly three-quarters of the 87-acre property. Boughner said about the project's multiple hotels, "Rather than create 5,000 rooms in one big box, it was much more important to create five different sensibilities. There are a variety of hotel sizes and experiences. The casino and the retail surround all the hotels giving a sense of connection." Boyd Gaming believed Echelon Place's primary competitors would be Project CityCenter, The Venetian, the Bellagio, and Wynn Las