Category Archive : Development

LAS VEGAS, NV – Elon Musk’s The Boring Company has announced that a milestone has been achieved on a massive tunnel project in Las Vegas on behalf of the city’s convention center.

The Boring Company – an infrastructure and tunnel construction company owned by Musk, a technology entrepreneur, investor, engineer, and co-founder of Tesla, Inc. – has been pegged for a project involving the construction and operation of an underground “people mover” that would service the Las Vegas Convention Center, slated to be completed in time for the January 2021 Consumer Electronics Show, according to officials.

After three months of work, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) officials announced this week that excavation has been finished on the first of two tunnels – nearly a mile in length and 40 feet underground – that will comprise the people mover, dubbed the Convention Center Loop. The Boring Company will now begin excavation on the second tunnel.

Upon completion of the $52.5 million project, each tunnel will be one-way and will whisk up to 4,400 attendees per hour from the Convention Center’s South Hall across the 200-acre campus in all-electric Tesla vehicles, free of charge. The tunnels will connect the South Hall with the campus’ new West Hall, which was built when the Convention Center recently underwent an extensive expansion and renovation valued at $1.52 billion.

The tunneling was achieved by way of a massive machine that will now be taken apart, transported back to the South Hall, and reassembled, at which time it will start the tunneling process anew, this time on the second tunnel.

The project is designed with the potential to be expanded as needed in the future, and could aid in easing congestion throughout the Las Vegas resort corridor if needed, officials say.

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 reports, the former Lucky Dragon has been given a new lease on life, as new ownership has re-branded and re-opened the facility with plans to give the hotel and casino a huge make-over.

The newly christened Ahern Hotel – named after owner and developer Don Ahern – will eschew the Lucky Dragon’s previous Chinese-themed design aesthetic – most of the decorations, including statues and a dragon chandelier, have been removed from the premises and are currently in storage awaiting sale – in favor of a more conventional look and feel, although the building still features its previous red exterior, but with all-new signs reflecting the name change.

Originally opening in 2008 with 203 rooms and a 27,500 square-foot casino – considered small compared to their local competitors – the former Lucky Dragon was inspired by Asian concepts in an effort to appeal to Asian customers, who were expected to be the resort’s primary customer base.

However, the establishment experienced low customer turnout over the years that it was open and as a result, the Lucky Dragon permanently closed for business on October 2, 2018. It was eventually sold for $36 million in April 2019 to Don Ahern, and reopened as the Ahern Hotel and Convention Center in late 2019.

Currently, the casino is not being re-opened; instead, Ahern noted that he intends to transform the casino into conference and convention space, with work expected to begin in March 2020; currently, the new facility is slated to have a separate name, although that moniker has not yet been publicly revealed.

Ahern estimated that he will be spending less than $10 million on the changes to the former casino space – including new eateries such as an Italian and a sushi restaurant – and hopes the entire resort would be ready in time for a grand opening on July 4, 2020.

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 reports, developer Jonathan Fore is set to build a new luxury apartment complex in Las Vegas after having the project recently received the approval it needs to go forward from Clark County commissioners.

Fore is also responsible for the construction of Lotus, an apartment complex located on Spring Mountain Road, adjacent to Valley View Boulevard several years ago. The developer noted that the proposed new complex – dubbed The Pearl – will be a 170-unit building spread out over seven floods, and will be situated nearby the Lotus on the opposite side of Valley View Boulevard.

The first three floors of the building would be comprised of a private parking garage and over 11,000 square feet of retail space at the ground floor, according to documents filed with Clark County. The complex would be on a 2-acre plot of land, and apartments would range from 690 to 1,382 square feet, with rents in the neighborhood of $1,550 to $2,500 per month.

Las Vegas has seen a large number of apartment complexes built there in recent years as the economy has bred rapid job growth and a subsequent influx of new residents from other states looking to take advantage of that fact, as well as Vegas’ overall lower cost of living when compared to many other regions of the United States. Apartment construction in Vegas has been mostly in the suburbs, due to the relative ease and affordability of doing so when compared to other areas of Southern Nevada.

Fore announced that he hopes to hold the groundbreaking for The Pearl in August of this year, and is eyeing a construction completion date of summer 2022. Fore also noted that adding a new apartment complex in Chinatown would be a boon to both prospective future tenants and local businesses, as there are many retail, dining, and entertainment options nearby.

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 – Minnesota-based Life Time, which runs a chain of luxury health and gym facilities, acquired Las Vegas’ Sullivan Square site in November 2019; according to reports there are potential plans in the works to transform the abandoned property into apartments, offices, and a gym.

Sullivan Square was originally purchased in the mid-2000’s with plans to transform it into a site for a Manhattan-style series of skyscrapers, but due to numerous factors – up to and including the recession – the plans never materialized, and the plot of land has sat in a state of disuse ever since, giving mute testament to the real estate crash that held Las Vegas in its grip for nearly a decade before only recently recovering in spectacular fashion.

Life Time has not officially announced plans for the Sullivan Square property, located across from Ikea at the southeast corner of Durango Drive and Sunset Road, however, reports indicate that Life Time plans to install one of their trademark luxury health and gym facilities at the location, in addition to a possible high-end apartment complex and office space for businesses. Retail options were not mentioned in the report, but should probably not be ruled out until concrete plans are revealed.

Originally, in the mid-2000’s, Sullivan Square was intended to be comprised of mixed-use space that would encompass apartments boasting nearly 1,400 residential units; 45,000 square feet of retail space; and 272,000 square feet of office space. However, the recession, combined with a series of lawsuits, resulted in the project never getting off the ground.

New construction of residential high-rise buildings are rare in the Las Vegas region in recent years, due in part to how expensive it is to both build and maintain such a facility. But the developers in this case must see the positive economic growth in Southern Nevada recently as a sign that high-rises may once again present the potential for profit in the years to come.

Photo via Loopnet & The Hoffman Company: Sunset & Durango; Las Vegas, NV 89113 · 14.89 AC · Land For Sale http://www.hoffmanland.com

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 construction status of The Expo at World Market Center Las Vegas, large-scale exhibition facility, recently received an update, courtesy of International Market Centers (IMC). According to a report released by the IMC, the project is currently on-schedule and on-budget, having just entered into the next phase of its development.

The Expo is a new addition to IMC’s downtown Las Vegas campus, and is expected to add an additional 315,000 square feet of space to the facility when it opens in July of 2020.

The Expo at World Market Center Las Vegas, upon completion, will feature exhibition space in the amount of 194,785 square feet, spread out among two separate halls. Hall number one will boast 97,684 square feet of space, and hall number two 97,101 square feet; together, the two halls can house a combined total of at least 1,000 booths. The facility will also have a lobby, a space for event registration, a dedicated shuttle bus area, parking garage, and basic dining facilities.

IMC CEO Bob Maricich noted in a statement that the project is currently running according to plan, and is on-course to meet its July 2020 opening date.

“Construction is on schedule and on budget. We’re delighted to cooperate with the city of Las Vegas to bring this new exhibition venue to Las Vegas, he said. ““All external steel work is scheduled to be completed by January 2020. Other than some construction-related shifts to registration locations and transportation options, it will be ‘business as usual’ for winter 2020 marketgoers.”

The Expo at World Market Center Las Vegas is coming in at a cost as high as $100 million, and the general contractor, Penta Building Group, initially held their groundbreaking in July of 2019. Currently, seven of the project’s ten steel sequences have been finished, and as of this month construction has gone vertical.

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 – Malaysia-based developer Genting Group has recently announced a several-month delay of the opening of their mega-resort, the Resorts World Las Vegas Casino, but noted that the resulting addition of several amenities – as well as a higher price tag to the already-impressive complex – are sure to make the delay more than worth it.

Resorts World – originally budgeted at $4 billion and recently revised to $4.3 billion – is situated on 87 acres on the Las Vegas strip at the former site of the Stardust Casino. Work on the casino began in 2017 with a projected late 2020 completion date, but progress was initially slow – blamed on construction difficulties and negative fluctuations in Malaysian currency – leading some experts to express that the 2020 opening was not in the cards.

Indeed, that opening estimate has been revised; the resort is now slated to open in the summer of 2021, as opposed to late 2020, and with that delay will come several changes that the developer says are for the better.

One of the major changes to the project will be the overall visual and aesthetic theme; previously Resorts World was expected to feature traditional Chinese architecture, with a red and white color scheme and a giant Chinese lantern hanging from the top of a tower; this has been changed to appeal to a wider range of guest tastes. Instead, Resorts World will feature a “luxury experience” with some Asian-themed design aesthetics.

When completed, Resorts World will feature over 3,500 rooms and suites divided between two towers with a 100,000 square foot gaming floor, numerous restaurants, a 5,000-seat amphitheater, a 75,000-square-foot nightclub, a 220,000 square-foot pool area – including a 1,800-square-foot infinity pool overlooking the Las Vegas Strip – state-of-the-art video screens, meeting and banquet space, a spa, entertainment zone, an extensive casino, and more.

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 reports, The Boring Co. – the tunneling company owned by Elon Musk – officially began construction on Nov. 15 on a tunnel that will house an elaborate “people mover” train system at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

A people mover is a type of small scale automated guide-way transit system. While many people movers transport passengers from airports, downtown districts or theme parks to other destinations, the one that the Boring Co. is developing for the Convention Center – a dual-tunnel people mover – would be more limited in scope, solely dedicated to servicing event attendees only.

The people mover is being constructed in partnership with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) and is slated to be completed in January 2021, which would coincide with the Consumer Electronics Show, held annually at the Convention Center. The Boring Co. won a $52.5 million contract bid for the project in May, which is the company’s first major underground tunneling project.

In addition to the tunnel, additional work located above-ground – including stations and stops – began in October.

Previous work at the site of the people-mover has consisted of delivering and assembling parts that make it ready in time for the project’s start date. As the Boring Co. will be doing exactly what their name implies – boring into the earth – the timeline of the project may experience adjustments on the fly based on what types of potential deposits and/or obstructions they encounter as they make their way through their designated boring path.

The Las Vegas Convention Center has been expanding recently, with the final result encompassing two miles from end to end. The addition of the people mover is expected to make negotiating the vast complex far more manageable for the estimated million people who visit the site on an annual basis, once work is completed of course.

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 reports, construction on a new upscale apartment complex is currently underway adjacent to the Wyndham Desert Blue timeshare tower located west of the famed Las Vegas Strip.

The project, currently without an official name and headed up by developer Fore Property Co., is taking the form of building 287 luxury apartments, with the first grouping of units being made available for rent by December 2020; the project as a whole is expected to be completed in April 2021, reports say.

The project – the first apartment complex being constructed in close proximity to the La Vegas Strip in 25 years – is slated to offer a number of posh amenities for tenants, including a dog park, sky lounge, and a yoga studio, among others. The facility closeness to the Strip will offer tenants easy access to local attractions, entertainment, and employment, which will most likely make the complex very attractive to prospective tenants.

However, such accommodations may put a dent in your wallet; according to Fore Property Co., rents are expected to range from $1,400 to approximately $3,000 per month. However, similarly-priced units at other apartment complexes built in the Las Vegas region by Fore have been snapped up by tenants in the past, illustrating the desire for high-class accommodations by select members of the public.

In recent years, in order to meet demand for housing options in light of the rapidly-expanding population of Las Vegas due to the economic upturn – developers have been constructing apartment complexes in areas previously having few. Examples include Fremont9 in Vegas’ downtown and the currently in development shareDOWNTOWN in the Arts District. In addition, Fore has noted their interest in another potential apartment complex in Chinatown.

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 recent reports, officials representing Bleutech Park, a $7.5 billion mini-city project that has been proposed for Las Vegas, has acquired a 210-acre plot of land at Las Vegas Boulevard and Cactus Avenue that the group originally hoped to break ground upon come December 2019, although that date has been pushed back.

As per the original July 2019 release announcing the project, Bleutech Park representatives noted that the project would usher in an unprecedented renaissance of the global digital infrastructure industry into Southern Nevada.

“The net-zero buildings within their own insular mini-city will feature automated multi-functional designs, renewable energies from solar / wind / water / kinetic, autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality, Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, super-trees, and self-healing concrete structures,” the release says. “Our goal is to provide creative, attractive and functional workforce housing that will meet the needs of the Las Vegas community as a whole, by providing a harmonious ecosystem, thereby improving the health of our community.”

The property was purchased by Bleutech Park representatives for more than $1.5 million per acre from Las Vegas real estate developer Larry Canarelli.

However, some are expressing skepticism regarding the validity of the Bleutech project; for instance, despite the proposed December 2019 groundbreaking date, Clark County has confirmed that no paperwork has been filed with either the county’s planning or zoning departments (as of November 6) – a process which must take place before a project can move forward in any real, physical manner. A Bleutech Park spokesperson has stated that they are working to submit the necessary applications to Clark County in December.

Also, some have expressed doubt that Bleutech Park would be able to deliver on some of the impressive technological marvels that they have boasted of in their original release. That said, the deal for the Las Vegas Boulevard property purchase is expected to close in January 2020 which will push back the original projected December 2019 groundbreaking date.

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 – Cherry Developments, owned by developer Sam Cherry, announced this week that a new apartment complex – dubbed ‘shareDOWNTOWN’ – will soon be constructed in downtown Las Vegas, located at Casino Center Drive and Colorado, according to reports.

The idea of shareDOWNTOWN – small, affordable apartments conveniently located within a busy employment area – is to give workers a local place to live within easy walking distance of their jobs, according to Cherry.

“This area has a diverse group of restaurants and bars, and this will be the first larger project — the largest project in the area,” he said in a statement. “It will be a place where people who work in the bar, work in the restaurants, the hair salon, the galleries can actually live. They can walk to work. It will help move the needle significantly in the neighborhood.”

The apartment complex, which will be three-four stories in height, will feature over 60-one bedroom units aimed at people who work at the many bars, clubs, restaurants and retail establishments that are in the area. The apartments are slated to be small, just 480 square-feet in size, with a projected rent ranging from $1,100 to $1,300 per month, reports note.

Cherry Developments noted that shareDOWNTOWN is slated to be the first in a series of apartment complexes located in the Las Vegas downtown region that target the people who work locally in an attempt to provide quality housing and promote job growth.

Overall plans for the shareDOWNTOWN project, including the approximate start date for construction and proposed amenities, are due to be revealed soon; once started, the development is expected to be finished by in May of 2020.

Developer Sam Cherry was previously known for construction of high-rise complexes prior to the mid-2000’s burst of the housing bubble in Las Vegas;  shareDOWNTOWN represents the first development project he has worked on since that period.

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 – In the mid-2000’s Las Vegas housing market, prices reached their peak; in June of 2006, the median sales price of a single-family home hit an all-time high of $315,000, right before the recession hit and rendered the Southern Nevada market nearly inert for almost a decade.

Fast-forward to 2019, and real estate in Las Vegas has finally experienced something of a boom period once again. With the recovery of the economy and the influx of money and jobs into the region, experts began to notice the skyrocketing growth in the housing market. Inventory was scarce and prices were rising, but did they stand a chance of hitting the highs seen before the housing bubble burst? Some were skeptical, but none denied the record-setting growth.

But it appears to be happening, experts say; in September 2019, the median sales price of a single-family home hit $310,000. Closing the gap significantly between what is and what once was. Clearly, home prices – while their growth has finally started to slow recently – are on the cusp of reaching, and perhaps even surpassing, their previous mid-2000 levels.
However, experts say not to read too much into that milestone, as when taking inflation into consideration, the gap is not quite what it once was thought. Inflation means that, in 2019 currency, that peak 2006 home price of $315,000 would actually equate to 398,300. Also, while things have improved overall, they have yet to reach the point where lenders were practically giving loans away; from banks to developers, everyone touched by the real estate industry is playing it a little more safely these days, based on how badly they were burned last time around.

So while the symbolism of the new 2019 peak is a great way to bid farewell to the hardships that the recession forced upon Las Vegas – and indeed, the rest of the nation – it still indicates that there’s room for improvement, and illustrates just how bad things got when they were at their worst. But it also shows how far Vegas has come, and how far it’s still more than capable of going in the future.

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 – Recently, with real estate booming in Southern Nevada, investment firms in New York have been delivering an influx of capital into multiple upcoming development projects in Las Vegas, signaling a strong belief in the current and future potential of the region, reports say.

The Rio Resort and Casino was sold last month by Caesars Entertainment Corp for $516.3 million to Imperial Companies, making the latest high-profile – and high-dollar – sale of a Vegas property to a New York-based investor or group. As per the deal, Caesars will continue to function as management for the Rio for the next two years – or possibly longer – while paying $45 million in rent annually.

Prior to the mid-2000’s national recession – before housing values in Las Vegas had collapsed and multiple development projects were abandoned – many New York-based investment firms swept in and financially backed numerous construction and real estate projects, a trend that has continued to this very day with the recovery of the economy.

One of the very biggest New York investors in Las Vegas is The Blackstone Group, owned by Stephen Schwarzman. Among the Vegas-based purchases that Blackstone has made in recent years – in addition to multiple local-area apartment buildings – include the Hughes Center office park for $347 million in 2013, the Cosmopolitan for over $1.7 billion in 2014, and the World Market Center furniture showroom hall in 2017; the amount of that last acquisition has not been publicly disclosed.

Steve Witkoff, a prominent New York-based developer, purchased the Las Vegas Strip-based Fontainebleau – in an unfinished state at the time, and now called Drew Las Vegas – for $600 million in 2017, along with partners based in Florida. In addition, the Nakash family of New York, in partnership with Gindi Capital, purchased the Showcase Mall – located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise – for over $367 million, the deal done in two phases in 2014 and 2015. Gindi, on their own, also bought 9.5 acres of property on Las Vegas Boulevard for $172 million in 2019.

Many other deals and investments have been made by New York-based entities as well.

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.