Careers     Rental Application     Tenant Login     Call Us:   702-376-7379


Month: April 2017

Gramercy Commercial / Apartment Space Sells for $61.75 Million Amid Region Revival

LAS VEGAS, NV – The Gramercy – formerly known in its original incarnation as “ManhattanWest” – has sat partially finished in Las Vegas for a number of years, a mute testament to the impact of the recession upon Southern Nevada real estate. Construction originally started on the 187,000 square-foot mix of retail, office, and apartment space in 2008 by investor Alex Edelstein’s Gemstone Development, who pulled out six months after the first brick was laid – $170 million poorer – amid the crushing blows dealt by a collapsing economy and a real estate market no longer able to sustain itself as a result.

However, as a sign of Vegas’ continued revival, the mixed-use condo space on Russell Road west of the Beltway – re-dubbed The Gramercy – was recently sold to developers The Koll Company and Estein USA by WGH Partners and The Krausz Cos., who in turn originally purchased the property from Edelstein in 2013 and completed its construction. Koll/Estein paid a cool $61.75 million for The Gramercy, which is a bump-up in price from the $20 million Edelstein let it go for in 2013; part of the reason WGH Partners sold the property off this April was due to the difficulty in leasing out the retail space, although the vast majority of the office space has been rented.

Representatives of Koll/Estein have stated a number of reasons for their purchase of The Gramercy; among them the fact that they are happy with the amount of square footage that has currently been leased, and envision a continued influx of tenants – and, as a result, increased revenue – as the property sits amid a part of the southwest Las Vegas community, an area that is experiencing perhaps the largest spurt of rapid economic and population growth in Southern Nevada at the moment. As a result, investors across the board have been snapping up whatever properties in the region they can get their hands on.

The Gramercy consists of two apartment buildings with approximately 600 living units and two office buildings with retail space at ground-level; an additional condominium tower, started in 2008 but never completed, was imploded and destroyed in 2015. Plans currently exist for additional office space to possibly be built on the property.

Several high-profile retailers are currently taking up residence at The Gramercy, although precious few represent national chains, something the previous landlords purposely sought to avoid according to reports. Among the higher-profile retail tenants calling The Gramercy home are the DW Bistro, a 4,512-square-foot eatery described as “Jamaican Meets New Mexican Cuisine” and featuring a full bar; Pinches Tacos, a Mexican restaurant; The Cuppa Coffee Bar; exercise studio Raw Fitness; and, eventually, Kitchen Table Squared, the new second location of Henderson’s popular Kitchen Table upscale restaurant, slated to feature an “upscale dining room, formal pastry and coffee bar and an oyster bar.”

With the new buyers putting real money into a property that was considered almost dead and buried just a few short years ago, The Gramercy – along with record-breaking home and apartment prices and sales in the region as more and more people seeking employment opportunities move in – represents the real estate and economic boom that Southern Nevada in general, and Las Vegas in particular, is currently experiencing after several years of financial drought, and points to a bright and prosperous future as this trend is cultivated and grown.

Single-Family Home Availability In Las Vegas Reaches Lowest Point Since Summer 2013

LAS VEGAS, NV – Spring is here, and if March figures are any indication, the upcoming months leading into the summer season are sure to continue the upward trend of availability – or lack thereof – of homes in the Las Vegas real estate market.

Southern Nevada’s supply of available homes has been shrinking for months now, going hand-in-hand with a steady increase in prices as options continue to dry up for prospective homeowners in the region. According to recently-released statistics, approximately 11,000 single-family homes were available on the market at the tail-end of March 2017, which represents a decrease of 17 percent over the same point in 2016. Meanwhile, sales of available homes on the market have increased nine percent this past March compared to 12 months ago, resulting in a highly-competitive marketplace for both buyers and sellers, with homes on the average selling at the fastest rate since official tracking begun in 2010.

A community experiencing growth always represents an attractive prospect for people looking for a fresh start, hence the recent influx of transplants from other areas of the country and the subsequent reduction in the amount of housing options for them as dwellings are gobbled up. As an example of how fast homes are selling in the region, your average single-family dwelling would typically go under contract in 60 days one year ago; today, that number has gone down to 49 days and continues to shrink.

As with a growth in demand comes growth in prices; the median price of a single-family home sold in the Las Vegas area has jumped up 7.5 percent in March 2017 from one year ago, with the average price clocking in at approximately $273,000.

According to real estate professionals, there’s plenty of buyers out there, but fewer and fewer homes to accommodate them; this, reports indicate, are a result of economic improvements in Nevada as a whole and Las Vegas in particular, with new businesses, attractions and even sporting teams (in the form of the Oakland Raiders NFL team) setting up shop in the area, and with them are coming jobs for local area residents.

However, with Vegas’ growing reputation as a real estate market on the rise come complications as well, with homeowners looking to sell believing they are sitting on a gold mine and demanding top dollar for their property; experts report that if prices were lowered closer to an accurate fair-market value – as opposed to prices inflated by speculative market growth and a recent spike in demand – that sales would be even more brisk. But as a territory hit especially hard by the real estate bubble burst several years ago, sellers looking to cash in on a market that is finally booming is just a reality that cannot be denied.

Another factor that is eating into the total number of homes available to buyers in the Las Vegas area are due to investors that purchased a large number of homes, only to turn around and offer them as rental-only properties to tourists and vacationers; as of March 2017, few of those investors are looking to sell those homes, which again drives up demand for the remaining properties on the market.

Overall, however, March 2017 has continued the trend of a shrinking real estate market and demand (and, as a result, prices) for property in Southern Nevada with no signs of things slowly down.

If you are considering relocating in or around the Las Vegas area, which clearly is experiencing huge growth and a booming job market,  give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any real estate and home relocation questions you may have.

HGTV’s Reality Hit ‘Flip of Flop’ Gets Las Vegas Spinoff; Highlights Demanding, Fast-Paced Vegas Market

LAS VEGAS, NV – If the numbers aren’t enough to convince you that Las Vegas, Nevada is a fast rising hotbed of real estate activity – last month’s median home price moved up 10 percent to $242,000 from the same period in March of 2016, and five years ago that number was a mere $123,000 – Hollywood has also taken note.

HGTV’s Flip of Flop, one of reality television’s hottest programs, is offering its very first spin-off with a Las Vegas-centric theme; entitled Flip or Flop Vegas and starring local residents Bristol and Aubrey Marunde, its very existence displays a firm belief in the high activity of the Southern Nevada real estate market by HGTV studio executives, as typically they are loathe to sign off on a show that concentrates on a single region unless they feel they have a certified hit on their hands.

Flip or Flop is a television series airing on HGTV hosted by real estate agents and real-life husband and wife Tarek and Christina El Moussa. First airing in 2013, the show, which chronicles the activities of the two as they “flip” homes; in other words, they buy distressed properties and renovate them while a camera crew captures the process from beginning to end. The popularity of the show is readily apparent by the fact that, to date, it has filmed 86 episodes through 8 seasons. As is the case with successful television, eventually talk of a spin-off came to bear, and on April 6, 2017, Flip or Flop Vegas premiered on HGTV starring Bristol Marunde, a Vegas-based real estate expert and designer, and her husband Bristol, a designer, contractor, and former Mixed Martial Artist who has competed in the UFC and Strikeforce.

Flip or Flop Vegas takes the same premise as its progenitor; the Marundes are featured in each weekly episode dealing with the trials and tribulations of flipping homes in Las Vegas; the real estate market in the Vegas area is ripe for such a show, with the current demand for housing options far outstripping supply, a state of affairs that is causing prices to continuously make gains. Indeed, Las Vegas is fast becoming a seller’s market, and each week viewers can tune in to HGTV and see it all for themselves.

Producers from HGTV first became aware of the exploits of Bristol and Aubrey Marunde when they discovered videos clips on the couple’s Instagram account of their Vegas home flipping achievements; it wasn’t long before the Marundes were contacted and eventually signed to a contract for a 13-episode season Flip or Flop spin-off focusing exclusively on the Las Vegas market, and if ratings are any indication, HGTV has yet another certified hit on their hands.

As for the advantages of flipping homes in the Las Vegas area, Aubrey Marunde recently said in an interview that the high, high demand for homes in Southern Nevada in general lends itself to a much more intensive flipping experience than in the rest of the United States, both in terms of the need for speed when it comes to identifying and buying prospective properties as well as the amount of time it takes to actually sell a home once you’ve finished renovating it (hint: in Las Vegas, they go fast).

“Vegas is a very, very fast-paced market. There are so many opportunities and they present themselves daily. You have to be ready to jump on them, because if you don’t, somebody else is going to,” she said. “So our fast-paced market here is much different than other places around the country and I think that people watching are going to see that. Our properties sell in hours, rather than days or months here. That’s very unique to the show.”

Flip or Flop Vegas currently airs on HGTV on Thursdays at 9 p.m.

Considering relocating in or around the Las Vegas area? Give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any real estate and home relocation questions you may have.

Amazon.com Expanding Warehouse Operations to North Las Vegas; Boost Expected for Local Economy

LAS VEGAS, NV – As if Las Vegas’ economy – and as a by-product, it’s real estate market – wasn’t beefing up its already impressive profile, Amazon.com, the nation’s largest online retailer, is currently in the process of constructing a massive warehouse in North Las Vegas to be used as a regional fulfillment center for the countless orders placed via their website on a daily basis.

Amazon’s warehouse, one of over 75 Amazon currently has across the country, will ring in at an impressive 800,000 square feet, and is being erected near Lamb Boulevard and Tropical Parkway. The facility is expected to open its doors for business in summer 2017, and with the opening of said doors will come a immediate boon to the local economy in the form of 1,000 new jobs, many of which will man the warehouse stocking items and packing orders that are destined for numerous locations throughout the Southwest.

As an enticement for Amazon to set up shop in North Las Vegas, Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval has offered up $1.8 million in tax savings in the form of tax abatement’s for the online retailer. According to Amazon’s latest annual report to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company saw net income of $2.37 billion for the year ended Dec. 31, 2016.

Governor Sandoval noted in a statement that Nevada has been attracting numerous big-name companies to its corporate landscape; in addition to Amazon, The Honest Company, CML Media Corp Sutherland Global Services, TH Foods and Zazzle are expected to set up shop in the area, not to mention the impending re-location of the Oakland Raiders NFL team to Las Vegas within the next 1-2 years. With this injection of fresh blood into the region, Sandoval said, is serving to turn Nevada in general and Las Vegas in particular into a destination not only for tourism, but business as well.

“That’s what provides the jobs…a variety of companies will spur growth in Nevada, including Amazon.com, the largest internet-based retailer in the world,” he said. “North Las Vegas is transforming…Nevada’s business-friendly atmosphere is not only helping existing Nevada companies expand, but also bringing industry-leading companies to our state.”

Following the national recession, the North Las Vegas area has seen an increase in warehouse construction, which in turn has been providing a great many new jobs for local residents; with the steadily improving employment situation in the area – not to mention an influx of out-of-state transplants looking for a better job market – the Las Vegas real estate outlook has improved at an equally steady rate. After all, when jobs are available, money is flowing, and new people are settling in an area, adequate places to live are a necessity; with the housing options in Las Vegas already raising regularly in value due to growing demand outstripping supply, new economic factors resulting in an even greater need for enough houses and apartments is going to cause already swelling prices in the real estate market to spike even further.