A Look at Some of the Biggest Vegas Real Estate Deals of 2017
LAS VEGAS, NV – In a year of never-ending real estate news, 2017 comes to a close with Las Vegas as the region of the United States with the fastest-climbing real estate market; today, let’s take a look back and evaluate some of the highlights – and, considering what a red-letter year it’s been for Nevada, that’s no small task – in anticipation of what is yet to come in 2018.
Raiders Stadium: The former Oakland Raiders will be transplanting themselves to Las Vegas in 2020, and to make them feel at home, in May they purchased a 63-acre plot of land located at Dean Martin Drive and Russell Road in order to construct a massive $2 billion stadium and practice facility – with $750 million of that amount coming from public funding sources – which officially broke ground in November. The project has been credited with increasing tourism interest in Las Vegas, as well as serving as a beacon to companies interested in setting-up shop in Southern Nevada due to the local economic benefits the famous NFL team is providing, even well before their arrival in two years.
World Market Center: Wall Street-based investment firm The Blackstone group made a particularly noteworthy acquisition in Las Vegas in 2017- the World Market Center, a nearly 5.5 million square-foot furniture showroom facility located on Grand Central Parkway at Bonneville Avenue. The purchase, the cost of which was not made public, was announced in September, which was the same time-frame as Blackstone’s procurement of International Market Centers, which owns furniture showrooms located in both Vegas and North Carolina. Blackstone has made several high-profile purchases of Las Vegas real estate in the last few years, including the Las Vegas Strip-based The Cosmopolitan, a 3,000-room hotel.
Fontainebleau: The infamous 60-story hotel, which has been standing overlooking the Strip in its partially-constructed state for years due to the iron grip of the mid-2000’s housing bubble burst upon Southern Nevada, has changed hands several times; in August, real estate investment firms Witkoff and New Valley made public a deal where they acquired the property from the previous owner, Billionaire Carl Icahn, for the sum of $600 million (Icahn had purchased during the depths of the recession for $150 million), with the hopes of finishing the facility for an as-of-yet unannounced purpose (although presumably it will take the form of a hotel of some sort), with the project currently carrying the temporary moniker “Project Blue” as new development efforts are set to commence in 2018.
Alon: The Alon site, a 38 acre expanse of land located on the Strip adjacent to the Fashion Show Shopping Mall, was purchased in December for $336 million by billionaire developer Steve Wynn, who has purchased several properties in the area in recent years – including the $1.5 billion Paradise Park hotel and resort – although it is currently unknown what his plans are for his newest acquisition, the sale of which will be finalized in the first quarter of 2018. At the moment, representatives for Wynn have merely stated that they are purchasing the Alon site and some of its adjacent property – which has changed ownership hands several times over the years, including in 2007 and 2014 – for “future development.”
Town Square: A large open-air retail and office complex located at Las Vegas Boulevard and Sunset Road, Town Square Las Vegas was sold in January to investment firms TIAA and Fairbourne Partners; price was not publicly disclosed, but according to reports the companies took out a $215.6 million mortgage in connection to the acquisition of the 100-acre property, which was seized via foreclosure by creditors in 2011. Retailers already in-place at Town Square include Apple, The Container Store, and Whole Foods Market, in addition to office tenants such as SolarCity.
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