Tutor Perini subsequently developed and funded a three-month, $21-million repair by John A. Martin & Associates that MGM rejected. "It would take approximately 18 months to conduct tests and come up with an approved, permitted design to fix the Harmon, if repair is even a possibility," the owner said.

Tutor Perini is suing for nearly $200 million in unpaid bills, including work performed on Harmon, while MGM is countersuing for $400 million in building damages. Harmon underwent four rounds of destructive testing, making it no longer fixable due to "the structure being compromised by the removal of concrete," says John A. Martin.

The county court ruled, in 2012, that MGM could demolish its property without extrapolating findings from destructive testing to demonstrate building-wide defects, since samples were not randomly selected. Subsequent destructive tests yielded the same outcome. But MGM consultant Weidlinger Associates now says Harmon's "widespread, diverse structural defects" make it unfixable and susceptible to collapse in a seismic event.

John A. Martin rebuffs those claims: "Harmon Tower does not pose a life safety risk. … [We have] never agreed with the opinion expressed by [Weidlinger] that the building was likely to suffer a partial or complete collapse."

Engineer Walter P Moore, which the county hired to assess the hotel's condition, agrees. It said the building was "structurally stable under design loads from a maximum considered earthquake event."

The court recently rejected a new trial date extension request. Trial start has already changed five times. But industry experts say a razed building prior to trial could still prejudice a jury despite the legal circumstances.

A demolition plan has yet to be filed with county officials.