Sale of Late Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh’s Las Vegas Apartment Deemed Fraudulent by Judge

LAS VEGAS, NV – The sale of the former apartment complex of late entrepreneur and Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh has been deemed fraudulent by a Las Vegas judge since his estate never approved of the transaction, leaving the buyer in a state of limbo in regards to the rights to their purchase.

Much of the Las Vegas real estate empire amassed by Hsieh has been listed on the open market by his family, totaling nearly 100 properties throughout the downtown Las Vegas area. Hsieh had passed away in November 2021 at the age of 46 due to injuries suffered in a Connecticut house fire, and had no will before his death, reports say.

The apartment complex in question, known as Cassia – which Hsieh purchased in 2012 – is located at 319 South Ninth Street, and was purportedly sold in March for $1.2 million by an individual named Santiago Espinosa, who claimed to be a managing member of Hsieh’s limited liability company that owned the property.

However, attorneys representing Hsieh’s estate were not informed of the sale until May, at which point they stated they had never heard of anyone named “Santiago Espinosa.” District Judge Gloria Sturman subsequently ruled that the sale of Cassia was “clearly fraudulent” and ordered that the deed be immediately returned to Hsieh’s estate.

While the whereabouts of the individual claiming to be Santiago Espinosa are currently known to authorities, the same cannot be said regarding the person who notarized the fraudulent sale, reports say. A source close to the situation alleges that the attempted sale of Cassia was part of a large-scale attempt to rip off real estate buyers across the Las Vegas valley.

The apartment complex had been sold to Galaxy Home Buyers LLC – managed by realtor Sarah Sorrells – and that the reversal of the sale by the judge resulted in the firm taking a $1.2 million loss that they have no choice but to accept.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – A “fix and flip” luxury residence located on Boulderback Drive in Las Vegas that was purchased and extensively renovated has now been listed on the open market for a whopping $5.895 million.

Shelly Kramarczuk, principal and owner of SK Design, first noted the home earlier in 2022, and after purchasing the single-story, four-bedroom, 4,832 square-foot property, oversaw a complete transformation of its interior.

Many of the changes in the home made extensive use of Neolith, a type of sintered stone made from three types of natural materials: Glass, Porcelain, and Quartz. The stone puts together the best features of these raw materials, creating a stone that is highly durable, waterproof, scratch resistant, and resistant to UV rays.

1 BOULDERBACK DRIVE, HENDERSON – $5,895,000.00

An entire wall in the home’s great room is completely made up of Neolith, Kramarczuk noted, and influenced her decision to make it a common design motif throughout.

“It transformed the entire feeling of the home. I am in love with the Neolith product line. It’s so rich in its look and appeal,” she said. “I immediately saw it in my mind when I first entered the home. I had a vision of re-slabbing it to transform the feeling of the home, so that is where I started.”

The great room Neolith wall features a 98-inch television with an integrated sound system and a 100-inch Dimplex fireplace – with the components are built into an AV media wall box behind the television – all of which have been incorporated seamlessly into the structure.

Kramarczuk added a number of other elegant design aspects into the home over the course of its 5-month renovation process, including a $70,000 custom Bocci chandelier hanging over the formal dining table, floor-to-ceiling glass throughout much of the residence, dual contrasting waterfall islands with quartz countertops in the kitchen, and much more, creating what Kramarczuk referred to as a “timeless, organic-modern aesthetic.”

“Boulderback is a special property,” she said. “The floor plan is functional, with four bedrooms and flex rooms that can be customized to the buyer’s interests and needs.”

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – The housing market nationwide has been experiencing a series of hurdles and setbacks due to the ongoing inflation and rising mortgage interest rates that have been plaguing prospective homebuyers throughout 2022. However, real estate experts are noting that while Las Vegas isn’t immune to these issues, the marketplace is currently proving to be far more affordable overall than much of the country.

As 2022 soon enters into its final month, Las Vegas real estate expert Kirby Scofield stated in a recent interview that – despite the economic roadblocks that are in the way – individuals can still get a great deal in Southern Nevada if they’re willing to put in the effort, as the region features a unique set of circumstances that can prove rewarding for homebuyers.

“We have four casinos going up, two more sports teams supposedly going to be announced and thousands of jobs coming into Las Vegas, that means people are going to be moving…moving means buying and selling homes,” he said.

The factors contributing to an improving Las Vegas real estate marketplace include gradually-lowering home prices coupled with reduced competition for the current inventory; this situation, Scofield said, can provide the ability to secure a good deal on a purchase despite high interest rates on home loans, which are currently past 7 percent.

Scofield notes that buyers should be looking at homes that they can afford based on the current interest rates, but also keep in mind that the tough market is now causing sellers to offer compromises that can lower the overall money you need to sink into a deal.

In addition, Scofield also said that some first-time home buyers may qualify for a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) home loan, which would require only a three-and-a-half percent down payment.

“Utilize that it’s currently a buyer’s market to get seller concessions to buy down the points, and pay for your closing costs and get keys for home you deserve,” he said. “More homes available in FHA limit, double than we had in inventory in January alone of every home total in Vegas.”

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – The long-abandoned Las Vegas White Sands Motel site – with the pool empty, existing building boarded-up and encircled with barbed wire fencing, now home to a stray cat colony – has been listed on the local real estate marketplace for $1.5 million by the estate of late owner Spartaco Colleli, in the hopes that even the most dilapidated property in Southern Nevada can fetch a healthy sum from the right investor.

The former motel – located on a 1.1 acre parcel of land on Las Vegas Boulevard, across from the Luxor Hotel and Casino – is being auctioned off on a website called Ten-X, which is accepting bids from December 12 to 14. The listing claims that the property’s “redevelopment opportunities are endless” due in-part to its proximity to Allegiant Stadium, T-Mobile Arena, and other well-known establishments.

Currently, it’s unknown if any bids will be made upon the property, or how much money overall it will generate in an auction; however, the building – originally constructed in the 1950s – is currently in a substantial state of disrepair, having been the target of vandalism and squatting by homeless people and cats for years.

With that being the case, the motel will most likely be torn down and the land re-developed if it does indeed sell next month, with the property likely used for some sort of tourist attraction due to its prominent location on the Las Vegas Strip.

The White Sands Motel site has been unsuccessfully put on the open market several times over the years for various asking prices. It was initially offered for $25 million in 2016, then for $18 million in 2021, and finally $12 million in spring 2022, with no takers each time. The $1.1 million starting price for this new auction represents the lowest amount it’s been advertised for yet, and experts believe that this may finally push buyers to take the plunge.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – An injunction hearing scheduled for this past Thursday regarding a lawsuit filed by a group of short-term rental owners that alleges that Clark County is violating their property rights has been delayed for December 19, further drawing out the legal process that had originally begun when the case was filed this past August.

The lawsuit, brought by the Greater Las Vegas Short-Term Rental Association (GLVSTRA), is seeking to temporarily block a law set into place in the form of a Nevada legislature bill known as AB 363, which added new ordinances in June regulating short term rentals in the state. In turn, unincorporated Clark County was subsequently tasked with handling oversight of the industry within its borders, and were mandated to create their own set of regulations.

GLVSTRA founder Jackie Flores said that the new ordinances – both on a local and state level – clearly infringe upon the rights of property owners who wish to rent out their residences via services such as Airbnb and Vrbo.

“Our position is that both the state law and the Clark County ordinance just goes too far where it’s actually violating people’s constitutional rights and freedoms,” Flores said. “AB 363 makes it hard for people to get a license and once you get a license, it makes it easy for people to get in trouble for minimal things.”

Some of the contested regulations created by Clark County officials include no more than 10 people in a property, minimum two-night stay reservations, rentals being no closer than 1,000 feet one another, and no-warning, on-the-spot county inspections, among others, Flores said.

“They have a provision in the ordinance that says any Count Official can come to your private home at any time whenever they feel like it and for whatever they want and you have to let them in your property,” she said. “You have to let them in your house and we felt like that was like you’re going way too far.”

Flores added that the cities of Henderson, Las Vegas, and North Las Vegas offered compliance periods right after their respective ordinances were passed, but that Clark County did not follow suit.

In addition, the application process being offered to get licensed – including an upcoming permit lottery –  is overly convoluted and cumbersome, Flores claimed, and will likely result in as many as 80 percent of the over 12,000 illegal short-term rentals in Clark County not being able to legitimize themselves.

“Right now they have a pre-application period of six months,” she said. “That period is just really you pre-applying but nothing really happening, and then after those six months then they’ll have at some point in time they still don’t know when a lottery then you move onto the next step which is application to the license.”

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – An “outdated” equestrian property extensively transformed into an “organic luxury modern farmhouse” located in an out-of-the-way section of Las Vegas has been listed on the open real estate marketplace for nearly $2 million, according to reports.

The residence, located at 7435 W. Richmar Avenue – situated in a “peaceful nook” under Exploration Peak in the southwest Las Vegas Valley – was originally purchased in February 2022 by the husband-and-wife real estate team of Natalia and Ben Harris before their extensive renovation of the property.

The 3,358-square-foot home has now been listed for $1.849 million and features six bedrooms, four baths, formal living and dining and an executive office/flex space, all situated upon two acres of property isolated enough to give homeowners a strong sense privacy, but close enough to shopping and entertainment venues for when groceries or a night on the town are desired.

The house also boasts a detached casita, mature fruit trees, a greenhouse, resort-style pool, recreational vehicle parking and an oversized motor court entry.

7435 WEST RICHMAR AVENUE, LAS VEGAS – $1,849,000.00

Another selling point of the property is the large amount of nearby wildlife, with the owners noting that hundreds of species of birds are on display on a daily basis and coyotes are visible running up the nearby hills.

The property’s $250,000 in renovations – carried out by Gary Martin of GC Construction – were primarily confined to the residence’s interior, which Natalia and Ben Harris noted had a “cramped” feeling due to an excessive amount of partition walls; many of these were subsequently knocked down to create a spacious open-concept floor plan.

The overall aesthetic of the home, according to Natalia Harris, is now one of an “organic, modern farmhouse to pay tribute to the equestrian aspect of the property,” avoiding a completely modern feel in favor of an emphasis on warm, natural colors and textures.

Other upgrades include the gutting of the outdated kitchen and substituting it with a gourmet kitchen featuring quartz countertops and a striking black chevron backsplash, replacing the existing central multicolored stone fireplace with a LED black porcelain tile fireplace, and ripping out the old primary bathroom and transforming it into an exotic, resort-style bath.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – Growth Holdings, a Las Vegas-based holding company, has received a construction loan in the amount of $85 million towards the development of Otonomus Las Vegas, an apartment complex slated to be comprised of both residential and short-term rental units.

Otonomus Las Vegas is planned to be completed and to begin welcoming tenants during the fourth-quarter of 2024, and will be comprised of 303 fully-furnished units boasting numerous luxury-minded perks, such as stainless steel appliances, granite and quartz countertops, tile backsplashes and LED lighting.

The apartment complex – developed by Growth Airo 1, LLC – will take the form of a building that will be comprised five stories, and its living units will share a number of specific design aspects, such as open floor plans, 10-foot ceilings, walk-in closets, and private balconies.

Tenants will also have access to a number of swanky amenities, such as a cutting-edge fitness facility, a clubhouse, multi-functional meeting space, three courtyards with picnic and barbecue areas, lounge areas, and two resort-style pools with cabanas.

In addition, Otonomus Las Vegas will have a retail component as well, with 38,000 square-feet being available to businesses such as restaurants, office space, and various shops, among others. The first floor of the building will be dedicated to retail, whereas the remaining second through fifth floors will be comprised of tenant living space.

Otonomus Las Vegas is being developed in collaboration with Airbnb and is being built at the corner of Decatur Boulevard and Russell Road, which is only a seven-minute drive from Allegiant Stadium, home of the Las Vegas Raiders. And while first introduced in Las Vegas, Growth Holdings have indicated their plan to expand the Otonomus concept to Japan and other countries around the world in the future, if this initial endeavor is successful.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – For entrepreneurs seeking an integration of their life and work experience into a single flexible space, Juhl, located in downtown Las Vegas, offers the unique combination of a luxury condominium with office, commercial or retail space that’s sure to appeal to go-getters looking to establish their brand while living where they work.

Juhl provides tenants with two-story live-work condominiums that provide visible street-level space for business, combined with separate, private second-floor living space that allows a seamless blending of living and working environments. The live-work condos range in size from 1,359 square feet to 1,993 square feet and cost in the range of $550,000 to $650,000, with building management offering a $25,000 tenant improvement credit to help the tenant to customize their space.

The block-sized Juhl, located on Bonneville Avenue, is the only mixed-use development in Las Vegas’ downtown area, and has a wide variety of businesses occupying its street-level business sections, from restaurants to retail establishments. All Juhl units are zoned for commercial use and include access to a private parking lot as well as ample street parking for customers and clients of its tenants.

The actual commercial units themselves are spacious and can be easily customized, with high ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows, concrete flooring, a rear entrance, and a half-bath. And as for the second story living space, Juhl’s tenants have access to a one-bedroom, one-bath unit with a private entrance, balcony, and a contemporary kitchen with stainless steel appliances and granite countertops.

Juhl tenants also have access to a variety of amenities, including a two-story fitness center, a resort pool, dedicated concierge, 24-hour security, summer kitchens and grilling stations, movie theater, a Vino Deck, private pet walk and electric car charging stations.

For anyone interested in starting their own business and enjoying a conveniently-located space to call home in order to create a healthy life/work dynamic, Juhl offers a unique and dynamic way to achieve this goal.

For more information visit https://www.juhllv.com call (702) 816-5466.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – The Mirage Las Vegas is slated to transfer operations next month from MGM Resorts International to Hard Rock, the gaming arm of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, marking the first time that a Native American tribe will run a resort casino on the famed Las Vegas Strip in its long history.

The Seminole tribe has developed extensive hotels and resorts for gaming on some of their reservations, and in 2007 the tribe bought the Hard Rock Cafe franchise for $965 million, including 124 Hard Rock Cafes, four Hard Rock Hotels, two Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hotels, two Hard Rock Live! concert venues, and stakes in three unbranded hotels. Since then, they established the Hard Rock Cafe brand in their hotels and casinos. They now have a total of seven casinos.

Hard Rock announced that it had purchased the rights to operate The Mirage in December 2021 for an eye-opening $1.075 billion; currently, no immediate changes are anticipated, with the resort’s iconic volcano show expected to continue functioning as usual for the time being.

Once the shift in operations is complete, The Mirage will be switching from its current MGM Rewards program to Hard Rock’s Unity Rewards customer loyalty program, and eventually the name of the resort itself will be re-branded with the Hard Rock name, with extensive renovations transforming the building’s façade to the same trademark guitar-style shape as other Hard Rock resorts.

However, The Mirage will remain operating under its current moniker and form for the time being, as reports indicate that MGM has licensed the Mirage name and brand to Hard Rock for three years, royalty-free.

Despite that, it is expected that the venue may be closed for a period of time after Hard Rock takes over in order to make changes, renovations, and improvements where needed, although this has yet to be officially announced and may not prove to be the case.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – According to a newly-released report, the housing market in Las Vegas is continuing to show signs of cooling, with prices – although still relatively high – dropping from September to October amid slowed activity brought about by high inflation and mortgage rates.

In October, the median price for an existing single-family home sold in Southern Nevada was $440,000, which represents a 2.2 percent decrease month-over-month from September, when that price was $450,000.

October’s drop was the fourth time in five months when home prices in Vegas have lowered from the previous all-time record for the region, which hit a whopping $482,000 in May of this year. Regardless, the median price for an existing single-family home in October was still up 7.3 percent from the same period of time in 2021.

Meanwhile, prices of townhomes and condominiums in Southern Nevada also dropped last month, although not to the degree of houses. In October, the median townhome and condo price was $266,000, a decrease of 1.5 percent from September but an increase of 12.7 percent from October 2021.

Brandon Roberts, president of Las Vegas REALTORS®, said that ever since the Federal Reserve began jacking up interest rates in an effort to curb national inflation, it has had a correspondingly harsh effect upon real estate, even in strong markets such as Nevada.

“Ever since mortgage interest rates started rising this summer, we’ve seen the housing market cool down,” he said. “Prices have been going down slightly since we hit our all-time peak in May. We’re seeing more homes on the market, and fewer homes are selling. Through October, local home sales are down about 22% from this time last year.”

In October, 2,192 homes, condos and townhomes were sold in Las Vegas, which is a drop of 44 percent year-over-year for homes and 41.9 percent for condos and townhomes, respectively.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – While real estate in Las Vegas – along with the entire country – has been facing a recent slowdown amid rampant inflation, high prices, and increasing mortgage rates, one aspect of the market has not only endured, but has actually continued to flourish- Southern Nevada’s warehouse market.

In October, newly-built industrial park SunPoint West sold for $143 million to German asset manager DWS Group. What was especially notable about the sale was that before the construction on the facility was even completed in September, it had already been fully-leased by tenants.

SunPoint West represents just one of a series of new warehouses near North Las Vegas Airport that are being snapped up as quickly as they are being built. The faciltiy’s developers, SunCap Property Group and Diamond Realty Investments, originally announced plans for the facility in 2021 as a six-building project spanning nearly 40 acres and covering approximately 730,770 square feet.

While demand for industrial real estate in Las Vegas grew quickly in the last few years, it only increased more during the COVID-19 pandemic and hasn’t let up since; greatly heightened public reliance on internet-based shopping paved the way for a much larger need for distribution facilities, with Southern Nevada proving to be extremely valuable in that regard.

Currently, industrial vacancies in the region are at record-lows, and rents are correspondingly rising higher and higher, with more and more landlords purchasing buildings and developers announcing new projects, with the main focus being placed on North Las Vegas.

Much like the home-purchasing frenzy in Vegas during the pandemic when buyers were often over-bidding and closing on houses sight-unseen, it’s now become fairly common within the last several years for industrial facilities to be fully-leased before construction on them has even been completed, with demand currently outstripping supply.

Essentially – despite the overall hurdles facing the real estate market currently – developers in Las Vegas seemingly can’t build industrial and warehouse space fast enough.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – Construction workers in Las Vegas have seen increased wages throughout last year, according to a recently-released study, but unfortunately those extra earnings have been gobbled up by the 40-year high inflation that currently holds the country in its grip, essentially negating any gains that were to be had.

The study, released by Construction Coverage, indicates that Nevada residents overall have been paying an additional $805 every month on everyday expenses, ranking the state seventh in the nation in terms of the toll inflation has taken upon it.

But construction workers – of which Las Vegas boasts approximately 7,600 – have seen the 7.1 percent pay bump that they experienced in 2021 reduced to the equivalent of just 3.4 percent when inflation is taken into account, showing that this segment of the workforce has been hit especially hard by the current economic crisis.

Throughout the heightened degree of inflation that the country has been experiencing, the Construction Coverage study illustrates that wages have struggled to keep up with the financial burden being placed upon Americans. In particular, Las Vegas has been in great need of construction laborers and inflation has not only been taking its toll upon them, but the industry as a whole – not even to mention that the prices of building materials have also skyrocketed.

Despite their importance to the industry, construction workers are among the lowest-paid segment of real estate development, with the median annual income being about $37,770; in contrast, Las Vegas construction laborers make an average of $37,500 a year, so any gains that are swallowed up by inflation are hurting these workers in the wallet more than usual.

Nevada recently ranked 28th in the country for gains in construction laborer wages, whereas Indiana and Montana had the largest increases in wages in the industry.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.