A six-building condominium/office project in northwest Las Vegas was bitterly opposed by residents who were concerned it would bring too many people and too much traffic to the suburban area.

The project included two 12-story office towers, two 12-story condominium buildings, a parking garage and retail space on the southwest corner of Deer Springs Way and Durango Drive.

Continue reading "High-rise proposal derailed by neighbors' protest" »

Posted September 17, 2007 1:12 PM by Kevin Chomintra | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

Condo sales, although slower, are alive and well in Las Vegas.

Devin Reiss, new president of the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, told the Review-Journal there were 372 condo sales in December, off 36.6 percent form the same month a year earlier.

The median price of a condo or townhouse is down 4.4 percent at $195,000 while the number of units for sale is up 86.2 percent to 4,833, Reiss said.

“Many have said that 2006 was a bad year for the Las Vegas housing market, yet this was a year that saw very little change in the median housing prices,” Reiss told the Review-Journal in an article published on Jan. 9. “While we do not discount the national studies that have come out, we recognize that the studies do not take into account local economic conditions such as lack of private land for development and the continued job and population growth that make Southern Nevada difference from other parts of the country.”

Continue reading "Las Vegas condos still heading toward luxury" »

Posted January 9, 2007 2:27 PM by Anthony Greno | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

Steady and stiff increases in building material prices, coupled with a rise in financing costs are putting the brakes on condo construction in Las Vegas.

In some cases, total building costs have risen a reported 50 percent over a year & time, causing the postponement or scuttling of various high-rise condo projects locally.

A specific focus on building materials price movements was provided June 6 on the front page of the Review-Journal in a well-researched article by Hubble Smith, who covers the waterfront on matters of real estate development. Some of the findings:

Continue reading "Skyrocketing building materials prices braking Las Vegas condo construction" »

Posted June 7, 2006 9:20 PM by Anthony Greno | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

From Florida comes an Associated Press news feature (Review-Journal, 5/30/06, page D1) about the new craze among car collectors: car condos.

Seems that vehicle buffs with bundles of extra cash are buying condos not to live in, but to house their collector cars, motorcycles, boats and personal watercraft.

David deMartino, 47, just bought a 760-square-foot, one-bathroom condo for $212,900 in booming Fort Lauderdale, the AP reports. The condo was bought to house his 1930 Model A Ford coupe street rod, 1961 Corvette convertible, 1970 Mercedes Benz 280SL, and three special edition motorcycles.

Continue reading "Car condos, the next wave for Las Vegas?" »

Posted May 30, 2006 1:00 PM by Anthony Greno | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

We've all heard there's a high-rise boom in Vegas. And we've all heard the scuttlebutt surrounding the collapse of several prominent projects.

When I wrote Manhattanizing Las Vegas: How to Profit from the Next Phase of Mega Growth," the trend was just underway. Now we're in the second phase of Manhattanizing Las Vegas.

We learned in the first phase that our valley's not quite ready for high-rise living in the suburbs. People who like the burbs like the suburban lifestyle it represents, including the single-family home and some land albeit sometimes a small cinderblock enclosed plot of land.

High-rise living in a suburban family setting is a bit premature.

However, if you look to Miami, you'll see a pattern for Las Vegas. Here in Sin City we've barely scratched the surface in attracting affluent people to town, from wealthy foreigners and baby boomers to retirees and movie stars.

Continue reading "Manhattanizing Las Vegas" »

Posted May 12, 2006 10:35 AM by Paul Murad | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

Another day, another high-rise succumbs to market conditions.

The developers of Las Ramblas - which includes partner George Clooney who ponyed up $10 million of his own money - have stopped taking reservations for the planned high-rise condo. The 25-acre site is rumored as being under contract to be purchased by Edge Resorts Group.

Read what today's Review-Journal has to say about the future of Las Ramblas.

Posted March 29, 2006 2:04 PM by Pete Codella | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

"Location, location, location," probably the oldest saying in real estate, appears to be the driving market force that halted sales of the yet-to-be-built luxury high-rise condos under the Curve insignia.

Construction was to have started late last year on the first phase of the Curve at Durango Drive and the Las Vegas Beltway. The project calls for two 18-story luxury condo towers plus 12 commercial buildings.

As it reported March 28 on the sales suspension, the Review-Journal noted that most lenders require at least 60 percent in presales before approving financing. The first tower at the Curve was 53 percent sold, with 97 buyers putting 10 percent down on units that sold between $385,000 and $1 million.

Continue reading "Location halts sales of Curve condos" »

Posted March 28, 2006 11:33 AM by Anthony Greno | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

The developers of the Curve's two 18-story condos have notified buyers that the timeframe in their contracts has now expired.

The group failed to reach 60% in presales and are now regrouping on the project.

The condos could still happen, but the entire West Village is still pie in the sky.

Read what today's Review-Journal reported.

Posted March 28, 2006 10:32 AM by Pete Codella | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

It won?t be the smell of the greasepaint and the roar of the crowd, as the saying on Broadway goes; rather, it would be the smell of the grease and roar of the engines.

Trophy Towers, a luxury 12-story condo structure proposed for erection alongside the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, would offer plenty of decibels for noise aficionados?racecar engines and jet engines of craft taking off from adjacent Nellis Air Force Base.

That?s IF the U.S. Air Force says the proposed 190-foot, 127-unit Trophy Towers is OK. A Nellis spokesman has said the Air Force is comfortable with current zoning of the area, which doesn?t include residential. He said the zoning?currently skewed to light industrial and commercial?ensures public safety.

Continue reading "Motor noise buffs will love Trophy Towers at Speedway" »

Posted March 13, 2006 1:42 PM by Anthony Greno | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

It happens to all of us eventually, each day we get older, and eventually we're old.

As far as U.S. cities go, Vegas is a tender 101 with a lot of maturing to do.

So what's happening as Vegas ages?

Have you ever considered what the Las Vegas Strip looked like in the 70s? It wasn't even in the same place, it was north a bit. That 'Strip' is now Fremont Street and 'The Strip' is now the southern part of Las Vegas Boulevard.

But in not too many more years, there will be a South Strip replete with resort hotel casinos, mid-rise and high-rise condos, and it's own feeling of neighborhood.

Continue reading "Vegas growing up" »

Posted February 17, 2006 4:34 PM by Pete Codella | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

We've all heard the horror stories of developers promising to build amazing high-rise condos, selling units, collecting earnest money, then pulling out and closing up shop.

There are various reasons for the change of heart. But we all know a developer's true yardstick is his pocketbook. So the bottom line, when a project no longer can make money as proposed, despite how many units have been sold or how much has already been spent on marketing, it's going to be canceled.

That's what happened to Janine Hagg who owns a smoothie shop in the Las Vegas Valley. She purchased a condo, watched as the selling price of similar units increased more than $100,000, then had to deal with the disappointment of a canceled project once construction costs went up 30 percent. She's now part of a lawsuit against the developer to recoup money she would have made if the unit had been built . . . now that will be an interesting case to watch.

Continue reading "Condos: to buy or not to buy" »

Posted February 16, 2006 9:43 AM by Pete Codella | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

Interesting how the national media has begun to pick-up on the supposed downturn in high rise condos in Vegas.

This article, Vegas Condos Go Cold ? Developers are suddenly scaling back their bets on the town's once sizzling luxury real estate market, appeared on Time.com yesterday.

However, there's still demand for high rise condos. In fact, of those that have been built or are under construction, there's less than 10 percent of available inventory.

There are 16 high rise condos, that's 15 stories and above, under construction in Vegas today. Half of these are condo hotels. The other eight are 90 percent sold - they have solid contracts.

So, despite constraints of increasing construction costs, available contractors and skilled workers, the market still suggests a high demand for high rise condos.

Posted January 26, 2006 11:13 AM by Pete Codella | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This