Yet another real estate lawsuit

It seems that there are at least one group of professionals profiting from the real estate slump-----lawyers. The developers of Sullivan Square, a large green high rise project are suing their equity partner, Harcourt Nevada.

Now there is a suit pending against D. R. Horton filed by real estate developer and two other home builders. The suit is alleging breach of contract for failing meet funding obligations for the Park Highlands community in North Las Vegas. The agreement that they are claiming DRHI violated stated that they were to fund 20% of the backbone infrastructure costs via regular monthly payments. The plaintiffs are claiming DRHI is more than $4 million in arears.

Construction of Park Highlands commenced in January of 2007 and despite the lawsuit, the plaintiffs state that the project is going forward.

Construction worker found dead at CityCenter

This past Saturday a construction worker was found dead at the CityCenter project. The man was identified as Mark Wescoat, an electrician from New Jersey working for Fisk Electric. He reported in for work at 6 am and about a half hour later he had fallen to his death from the 27th floor down to the 25th. This is the fifth construction death at CityCenter (last year there were four fatalities). OSHA has been called in to investigate and there has been no comment from MGM Mirage. In the prior cases, OSHA found numerous safety violations. The project has work crews there working around the clock to meet their November 2009 opening date.

Perhaps its time for CityCenter to put the safety of its workers ahead of its time table. Unfortunately, its not uncommon for their to be a death at a large construction site. However, to give you some perspective, only one worker died working on the Eiffel Tower in the late 1800's but 114 workers died during construction of Hoover Dam.

Related:

Accident at CityCenter
Accident at Palms Place
Another Accident at Fontainebleau

Accident at CityCenter

Yesterday four construction workers were injured when a steel rebar wall fell over. The accident occured around 1 p.m. Friday afternoon (1-11). The 25 foot tall, 150 foot wall was located in the main hotel tower. All four workers were taken to the hospital to be treated for non-life threatening injuries.

CityCenter employes roughly 5,000 workers and construction is still underway. Its due to open late next year.

Related:

Accident at Palms Place
Another accident at Fontainebleau

Construction everywhere

I had to drive out to Aliante over the weekend to pick up a dog. Someone had found a Collie running loose without any tags or a microchip. So we drove out to pick him up and took a wrong turn, ending up past Centennial Hills. I ended up driving by Echelon, Paxton Walk and Providence. Both communities have quite a bit of construction going. Providence has several neighborhoods with most of the framing done and several of the streets are complete with lighting and shrubbery.

With so many construction cranes on the strip area, you forget that other parts of town are having a lot of new construction as well. Its no wonder they had to create a second union for construction workers.

Vegas gets a FTZ?

The Las Vegas economy will be getting a shot in the arm from an unlikely source, a foreign trade zone. A foreign trade zone or FTZ status has been granted to the proposed world jewelry center in Union Park. As I understand it, basically it allows tenants to import raw goods duty free, cooperate with other tenants to add value to those materials by making something out of them, then either sell them in the US at a reduced commerce rate (great for locals and tourists) or export them back out without paying a duty. With this permission granted, its far more likely the tower will be built, since its appeal will now be very high.

This will also help Las Vegas past a turning point, making it a national player for big business. Nevada's favorable tax and labor laws have helped bring many large corporations here and with the addition of the World Jewerly Tower, another business sector will be represented.

Current plans for the building include 80 luxury residential condominiums at the top of the tower. The impact the tower will have on surrounding real estate value will certainly be favorable, not to mention the addition employment opportunities in mid to high level paying positions. Residents in near by lofts like Soho, Newport and Streamline Tower should also stand to gain as well by having a high profile neighbor.

Related Posts:

Another commercial development for Union Park

Vegas strip still holds its own

Apparently the "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" ad campaign was a success. Despite increased competition from Native American casinos and overseas, gaming revenue for July of 07 increased by 10.3% compared to July of 2006. Overall, there was a 4.6% increase fiscally from 2006, according to the figures released by the Nevada State Gaming Control Board.

As a result, Clark County had a 13% increase in revenue compared to last year. For residents and potential residents, that's great news. With tourism increasing every year, more and more resorts are being built to accommodate them. As a result, construction is still going strong on and around the strip, employing thousands of people, not to mention the jobs created after the projects are completed.

The revitalization of downtown Las Vegas is also showing the fruits of its labor. According to the Gaming Control board, July of 2007 showed the highest gaming revenues for downtown since 2004. Some of the downtown loft projects have been completed which should also help spur gaming and entertainment revenue as well. Newport lofts should have residents moving in shortly.

With the addition of the Echelon (located on the former Stardust site), I'm sure that there will be more significant increases in revenue. Not to mention the several other mega resorts under construction. It just goes to show you that even with increased competition all over the United States and overseas, nothing beats the Las Vegas experience.

Accident at Palms Place

There was yet another construction accident costing a man's life. This time it was at Palms Place. Apparently a construction worker fell down an open elevator shaft. He received massive head injuries and was rushed to UMC where he succumbed to his injuries. This is yet another accident in the last few weeks.

Statistically the amount of accidents is very small when you consider the vast amount of construction going on around the valley.

Related Stories:

Another accident at FontaineBleau
High rise construction

Another commercial development for Union Park

Developers are in negotiation with the city for the development of a huge jewelry commercial development including a 60 story high rise in Union Park. The development would include 800,000 square feet of commercial space. Part of the project would include three levels of public retail space.

It seems to me that this is a no brainer for the city council. They want to keep drawing high rollers to the downtown area and having several jewelry outlets and retail shops certainly can't hurt.

The proposed site is near W Charleston and Grand Central Parkway (near the world market and outlet mall). Seems that construction here in Las Vegas isn't going to be slowing down any time soon.

Related Stories:
Downtown Las Vegas
Commercial real estate in Lake Las Vegas

Another accident at Fontainebleau

Another accident hit the Fontainebleau this past Monday. A section of the multi-story parking structure that is being built collasped Monday.

Three levels of "slab" cement inside the steel superstructure of the parking garage collapsed, creating a domino effect shortly before 10:30 a.m. Monday. Construction has been halted pending an investigation. This is the second accident in less than a week after a worker died after falling off a 30 foot wall.

Fontainebleau Resorts is being developed by the Turnberry group of companies. Other Las Vegas Turnberry projects include Turnberry Place, Signature at MGM Grand and Town Square developments in Las Vegas, the Aventura Mall and Turnberry Towers.

Construction on Pinnacle commencing

Construction on the Pinnacle high rise condos is scheduled to commence on July 11th. The project is located on W Tropicana Ave and Cameron on the former site of Falconi Honda. Originally, construction was due to start in October of 2006. The project went through a small design change, the addition of the sky bridges.

Pinnacle will feature high rise condos, penthouse and sky bridge units. Absentee owners will be able to rent out their units through an in-house rental program. Interstate Hotels & Resorts of Arlington, VA has been retained to manage the property. Some of the unique floor plans like the Pinnacle H plan, feature dual master bedrooms with views of the strip. Other plans like the D plan, are located on the west side of the buildings, giving residents a view of the surrounding mountain range. If you are thinking about buying a high rise in Las Vegas, close to the strip but not on it, you might want to give Pinnacle a look.

Related:
Echelon condos update
Queensridge Condos

Commercial real estate development not slowing down

Commercial real estate in the city of Henderson just received a jolt. Phoenix-based Vested Housing and Principal Real Estate Investors have partnered to acquire a 16-acre site in Henderson. The acreage is approved for a 350-unit apartment community and was purchased for $10.5 million. Constructed is slated to start in early 2008.

The project will be called Henderson lofts and will include a pool, fitness center and clubhouse. Units will have 10' ceilings, tuck under garages and granite counter tops. The building site is located on Wigwam Parkway, east of Stephanie. Expect rents to be at a premium upon completion of construction.

Related:
Commercial real estate in Lake Las Vegas

High Rise construction

Despite the cancellation of several projects this year, more towers are going up. Last week I went to several of the current projects to get updated information. Next week, my wife Jacqulyn is going to be CNBC talking about the Las vegas high rise market. The interview took place earlier this week and will air on 22nd at 4 pm. Here are some construction pictures of Newport Lofts, Allure, Panorama Towers, Trump Tower, Sky Las Vegas and Turnberry Towers:



These pictures were taken on May 15th. Soho Lofts is nearly finished according to some of the construction crew there. They are just finishing up the interiors. Tower 4 of Turnberry Place is also nearly completed.

Condo conversions are still going strong. Las Vegas is no longer has a monopoly on them. Reno is also joining the growing condo conversion market with The Resort of Tanamera. The project features all of the high end amenities you'd expect in a Las Vegas project at a fraction of the cost. Units are priced starting in the $200,000's. I'm sure as these projects gain popularity that other areas of the country will follow suit.

Providence Las Vegas

The newest master planned community in Las Vegas looks very promising. Providence Las Vegas is being developed by the focus group. Aside from the standard fare in master planned communities, Providence will feature over 4,000 trees----all set up in to maximize water savings and provide energy savings at the same time. Each neighborhood inside Providence will feature a different species of tree. The effect should be pretty spectacular in fall and spring. There are 17 builders participating in the project and Providence home buyers should be able to see a model later this year.