The Maloof family, a developer of hotels and owner of the Sacramento Kings NBA basketball team, is embarking on another big project. Ground has been broken on the $265 million, 470-room Palms Casino Hotel in Las Vegas, which will be on Flamingo Road about one-half mile from the Strip. Scheduled to open in December 2001, the 40-story tower will include a 1,200-seat entertainment venue, an IMAX theater, a 14-theater Cineplex and a 95,000 sq. ft. casino.

The top of the building will contain a bar and a French restaurant, while the interior of the hotel will feature wood floors, patterned carpeting and rustic materials designed to give the hotel a beach-side feel. The hotel, which has an ambitious 13-month construction schedule, will be built by Phoenix-based Perini Building Co., and designed by Los Angeles-based The Jerde Partnership International, which designed nearby Bellagio.