LAS VEGAS – Famous Las Vegas landmark “A Little White Wedding Chapel” has been the site of many quick celebrity weddings, and according to reports it’s now going up for sale by owner Charlotte Richards, who has owned and run the establishment since it first opened its doors 68 years ago.

A Little White Wedding Chapel – which employs ten ministers and whose current asking price is $12 million – boasts of having joined over 1,000,000 couples in lawful matrimony; however, no statistics are available on how many of those couples have remained together. The Chapel is especially well-known for its “Drive-Thru Tunnel of Vows” wedding chapel, where eager couples can be married while on-the-go.

A Little White Wedding Chapel is located on South Las Vegas Boulevard, prime real estate with currently skyrocketing land values. The property is represented by Steve Khalilzadegan of Savi Realty, who noted in a press release that the 15,802 square-foot facility has over 222 feet of Las Vegas Boulevard frontage on a total of one full acre of property. The $12 million price tag for such a location, Khalilzadegan insists, is a steal for such an iconic Las Vegsa landmark.

A Little White Wedding Chapel is located on South Las Vegas Boulevard, prime real estate with currently skyrocketing land values. The property is represented by Steve Khalilzadegan of Savi Realty, who noted in a press release that the 15,802 square-foot facility has over 222 feet of Las Vegas Boulevard frontage on a total of one full acre of property. The $12 million price tag for such a location, Khalilzadegan insists, is a steal for such an iconic Las Vegsa landmark.

Richards came into the wedding business after her first husband abandoned her in Las Vegas, and Merle Edwards – who worked in the wedding chapel business – rescued her from the street and soon after became her second husband until his passing in 1982. Richards originally purchased the Chapel – at the time only consisting of a single room – in 1951, and soon expanded the facilities to include gown and tuxedo rentals, a florist, performing Elvis impersonators, and, of course, the infamous Drive-Thru Tunnel of Vows mentioned above.

During her time with A Little White Wedding Chapel, Richards has presided over the marriages of celebrities such as Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Rita Hayworth, Mickey Rooney, Michael Jordan, Britney Spears, James Caan, Patty Duke, Mary Tyler Moore, Paul Newman, Bruce Willis and Demi Moore. The Chapel has been featured on such TV shows as WWE Raw, Supernatural, Friends, Good Morning America, and The Real World: Las 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.

Blackstone Group Considering Sale of Las Vegas Cosmopolitan Hotel and Casino; Could Fetch $4 Billion, Analysts Say

LAS VEGAS – The Blackstone Group L.P. – an American multinational private equity, alternative asset management and financial services firm based in New York City – is considering putting one of their high-profile Las Vegas, Nevada assets on the open market for a potentially huge payday, according to reports.

Blackstone has hired investment banks Deutsche Bank AG and PJT Partners Inc. to investigate the possibility of selling the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, a 3,000-room luxury resort casino and hotel located on the famed Las Vegas Strip. According to reports, a Vegas-based casino-resort has the potential to sell under the right conditions for as much as 13 times the amount of revenue that it takes in; in the case of the Cosmopolitan, this could amount to a sale price as high as $4 billion, analysts say.

The Cosmopolitan would represent the first resort of its type on the Las Vegas Strip to be put up for sale in over 10 years, if Blackstone decides to follow through with it. Reports indicate that Wynn Resorts Ltd. and MGM Resorts International may have eyes on the property if it does indeed become available, although this has not been confirmed as of now. Local media have reached out to both groups but have yet to receive responses from either one on the matter.

The Cosmopolitan opened on December 15, 2010, and is located just south of the Bellagio on the west side of Las Vegas Boulevard. It consists of two high-rise towers – the Boulevard Tower and the Chelsea Tower – both of which are 184 meters (603 ft) tall. The $3.9 billion project features 3,027 rooms, a 110,000 square foot casino, 300,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, a spa and fitness facility, a 3,200-seat theater, and meeting and convention space.

The Cosmopolitan was purchased for $1.73 billion by Blackstone in 2014 and invested an additional $500 million into the property in order to build large luxury suites intended to house high-profile gambling guests, as well as renovating existing rooms and adding new bars and restaurants to the resort. The Cosmopolitan currently is one of the priciest hotels on the Las Vegas Strip, with an average stay running over $300 a day.

Blackstone – which owns numerous properties, in Vegas and worldwide – was founded in 1985 as a mergers and acquisitions boutique by Peter G. Peterson and Stephen A. Schwarzman, who had previously worked together at Lehman Brothers; since then, Blackstone has become the world’s largest private equity investment firm. As of 2019, the company’s total assets under management were approximately $470 billion dollars. In April 2019, Blackstone disclosed it was converting to a corporation from a publicly traded partnership.

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 – Brett Raymer, the former co-star of Animal Planet reality television show “Tanked,” has his Las Vegas home up for sale for the cool asking price of $3.2 million, according to recent reports.

Tanked, which has aired on Animal Planet for 15 seasons since it first premiered in August of 2011, follows the operations of the Las Vegas-based aquarium manufacturer Acrylic Tank Manufacturing, owned by Raymer and his brother-in-law Wayde King. Raymer also owns Donut Mania, a doughnut shop franchise with several locations in the Las Vegas Valley.

Raymer’s home, a Tuscan-style villa located in Northwest Las Vegas Valley that he originally bought for $1.15 million in 2014, is over 12,000 square feet and occupies a plot of land that is a half-acre large. The three-story residence has seven bedrooms, six full baths and one-half bath, and features clear views of the Las Vegas Strip. In addition, the home also boasts numerous amenities that were added by way of an extensive series of renovations after Raymer moved in, such as ornate landscaping, a resort-style pool, movie theater, wine /cheese cellar, and an aquarium with a design inspired by the famed lost city of Atlantis.

According to Animal Planet’s website, Raymer’s company is responsible for numerous awe-inspiring projects in the Southern Nevada region for a variety of prominent celebrity and business clients:

“Acrylic Tank Manufacturing is one of the country’s most successful builders of aquariums and two of Sin City’s most imaginative businessmen, Wayde King and Brett Raymer, are tasked with building some of the most enormous and awe-inspiring tanks and aquariums for top celebrities, luxury hotels and casinos, Fortune 500 businesses, private homes and millionaire homeowners across the country. ATM takes on more than 200 projects every year with tanks ranging from 50 to one million gallons in size.”

On March 17, 2019, Animal Planet announced that the series would conclude with its 15th season.

For more photos and details, check out the full listing.

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 – The Reno, Nevada home of late Stephen Paddock, the individual behind the tragic 2017 Las Vegas shooting that claimed the lives of killed 58 people and wounded 422, has been sold for $305,000 in cash after sitting on the market for the past nine months, according to reports.

Northern Nevada real estate agent Margaret O’Neill purchased the two-bedroom property, offering a bid that was $5,000 higher than a couple who were also interested in it. O’Neill was quoted in media reports as saying that her firm will likely attempt to re-sell the home, which is located in a 55-and-older community.

On the night of October 1, 2017, Stephen Paddock opened fire on a crowd of concertgoers at the Route 91 Harvest music festival on the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada. He killed 58 people and wounded 422, and the ensuing panic brought the injury total to 851. Paddock, a 64-year-old man from Mesquite, Nevada, fired more than 1,100 rounds of ammunition from a suite on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel. The shooting occurred between 10:05 and 10:15 p.m. PDT; about an hour later, Paddock was found dead in his room from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His motive remains undetermined.

The incident is the deadliest mass shooting committed by an individual in the history of the United States.

According to a court ruling, any money generated via the sale of Paddock’s assets – including this home, as well as a second home he owned in Mesquite that sold earlier this year, both of which were seized by the court and put on the market – will be distributed among the families of the 58 people he is responsible for killing.

The Reno house was initially appraised for $367,000 and listed on the market for $400,000, considered at the time an unrealistic amount due to Paddock’s infamy and it’s expected affect on the home’s real-world value; after no offers were made on the property, the price was lower to $374,900 before eventually selling for $305,000. According to reports, the majority of people who showed up to open houses for the property were there more out of morbid curiosity than any real desire to purchase the house. In contrast, Paddock’s Mesquite house was appraised for $394,000 but sold in January for $425,000 to an Oregon couple.

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 – Despite recent reports to the contrary, construction on the upcoming Las Vegas NFL Raiders Stadium – while facing a series of hurdles in recent days – will nonetheless be opening on time for the team’s first pre-season game, slated to take place on August 6, 2020.

According to reports, the Raiders’ construction manager, Jones Lang LaSalle, recently and erroneously told the team’s board that the July 31, 2020 completion date for the stadium has been bumped back to August 4; right afterwards, most major media outlets reported the incorrect news, spreading headlines declaring that the finish of the project had been delayed.

Some of the issues attributed to this alleged delay include issues with the delivery of steel supplies to the construction zone; a real problem, according to officials, but not one that will have any significant impact upon work, they say.

Soon after the “news” got out, chief operating officer of the Raiders’ stadium company, Don Webb, set the record straight, assuring board members that the construction of Raiders Stadium will be finished on-time for the start of the team’s 2020 pre-season season.

The Raiders broke ground on the new $2 billion, 65,000-seat stadium on November 13, 2017 – a joint-use agreement with the football team of the University of Las Vegas – and the impending arrival of the world-famous footballers has already attracted new businesses and investors to Las Vegas who believe that a local professional sporting team will serve as a massive boon to their bottom lines.

Indeed, this has already been proven to be the case; hotel room tax proceeds for the city of Las Vegas related to Raiders-influenced tourism have exceeded original projections by 0.6 percent, for a total of nearly $94 million through January of 2020, according to reports.

In addition to Raiders Stadium, work is also underway on a $100 million training facility/team headquarters that is located in the vicinity of Henderson Executive Airport. The headquarters will offer 323,000 square feet consisting of advanced training and workout facilities – including three practice areas located outside as well as an indoor football field – in addition to numerous corporate offices to house the team’s management, executives, and other personnel.

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 – The Circa hotel-casino, the latest high-profile resort to grace downtown Las Vegas, recently hit a major construction milestone on its way to its planned December 2020 opening with the pouring of its foundation, courtesy of 2,050 cubic yards of concrete delivered via a whopping 205 transport trucks. The Circa, located at 18 Fremont Street, slated to be a 1.25-million-square-foot, 777-room resort, casino, and spa, is set to hold a variety of immersive culinary, entertainment and gaming experiences.

“Today marked one of the first of many incredible moments in the story of Circa,” said Downtown Las Vegas developer Derek Stevens. “We are literally and physically laying the foundation for what’s to come and can’t wait to introduce Circa’s exciting new offerings to the 24 million people that visit Downtown Las Vegas every year.”

In addition to a plethora of amenities for guests and tourists to take advantage of, the Circa will also boast the largest sportsbook in the country. A sportsbook (or a race and sports book, sometimes abbreviated simply as book) is a place where a gambler can wager on various sports competitions, including golf, football, basketball, baseball, hockey, soccer, horse racing, greyhound racing, boxing, and mixed martial arts.

Experts are predicting that the action in Las Vegas in the near future will eventually evolve, moving away from pure gambling and gravitating towards more sports-related betting; the growing sports industry in Las Vegas is certainly one of the catalysts for this change, mostly due to the move of the NLF Raiders football team to Vegas in 2020. This changing landscape is being spearheaded by Circa’s focus on the sportsbook aspect of its business.

In addition, experts note that, as Vegas continues to grow, it will attract more and more tourists that are budgeting their dollars to rooms and experiences outside of gambling; people are visiting the city more for the attractions and sporting venues, and less for the card tables and slot machines.

Stevens, owner of the Circa, has retained the services of architecture and design firm Steelman Partners, in conjunction with contractor McCarthy Building Companies Inc. and construction manager Tré Builders. The hotel-casino, initially announced at the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center in January 2019, also holds the distinction of being the first downtown Vegas resort to be built from scratch – as opposed to the renovation or re-purposing of an existing structure – since 1975.

Derek Stevens is also the owner of several other Las Vegas properties, including the Golden Gate and the D Las Vegas hotel-casinos.

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 – The Las Vegas Ballpark, home field for the Las Vegas Aviators of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League, formally opened on April 9 against the Sacramento River Cats, drawing big crowds to the first official event held at the new sports facility and signaling a new era for a team formally plagued by one of the worst home stadiums in the sport.

Las Vegas Ballpark – a $150 million project, funded in part by an $80 million naming rights deal with Las Vegas tourism officials – replaces the Aviators’ previous home at Cashman Field, where the team had resided since 1983. The decision to build a new stadium for the team – previously known as the 51s – was due to many issues stemming from Cashman Field, such as poor conditions in the playing surface, bullpens, and clubhouse, as well as inadequate training facilities.

The problems with Cashman Field, however, culminated on August 22, 2015, when the stadium’s sewage system backed up, expelling raw sewage into the dugouts, forcing the teams to set up chairs on the field for the remainder of the game.

Clearly, it was time for the Aviators to move on to higher – and less stinky – ground. The official groundbreaking was held on February 13, 2018 on a plot of land located near the intersection of South Pavilion Center Drive and Summerlin Center Drive, next to City National Arena. By April 2018, excavation was 85 percent complete with nearby grading for parking lots about 90 percent complete. By June 2018, it was on schedule to be open before the 2019 season.

Before christening the stadium with their opening game on April 9, the Aviators had a soft opening on April 6 hosting a NIAA Sunset 4A Region high school baseball game between Palo Verde High School and Centennial. Considered by many to currently be the pinnacle of minor league baseball stadiums, the $150 million Las Vegas Ballpark, located in Summerlin, Nevada in the Las Vegas Valley, features a number of luxury-style amenities that rival nearly any found in the major leagues.

Las Vegas Ballpark includes 22 suites, a center field pool and several bars. The ballpark has breathable mesh seats, with 8,000 installed, with a total capacity of 10,000. Las Vegas Ballpark also has the largest video board in minor league baseball at 3,930 square feet; the Daktronics video board is 31 feet high by 126 feet wide and features a 13 HD pixel layout. The stadium also has indoor batting cages, a weight room and a rehabilitation center.

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 – Elon Musk, technology entrepreneur, investor, engineer, and co-founder of Tesla, Inc., has been recommended for another company he owns – The Boring Company, an infrastructure and tunnel construction company – as a leading candidate to work on a massive tunnel project in Las Vegas on behalf of the city’s convention center.

The Boring Company has been pegged for a project involving the construction and operation of a “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.

A people mover is a type of small scale automated guide-way transit system, and in the case of the one envisioned for the convention center, it would only serve for local transport; while many people movers transport passengers from airports, downtown districts or theme parks to other destinations, the convention center’s people mover would be more limited in scope, solely dedicated to servicing event attendees.

Before work can begin, however, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority must vote upon the measure; if the contract is awarded to The Boring Company – one of the cheaper overall bidders – the project will enter a design phase followed by the commencement of actual construction, with an estimated cost of anywhere up to $55 million, according to officials.

In addition, The Boring Company’s estimate for the overall length of the project was considerable faster than their competitors with President Steve Davis claiming the project could be completed within the span of just one year.

The people mover concept for the convention center is still in its infancy, and thus there are various details that have yet to be solidified. While the project will ultimately take the form of an underground tunnel that will take passengers from the station to locations within the convention center, it is not currently known what the exact transport method will be for taking visitors to and from their individual destinations. Among the options being weighed by officials include Tesla Model X or Model 3 motorized vehicles, as well as an electric tram capable of holding up to 16 passengers. The amount of stations and their locations within the center have also not yet been determined.

The Las Vegas Convention Center, ever embracing new tech, 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 once work is complete for the estimated million people who visit the site on an annual basis.

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.

Nearly 6-Mile Multi-Year Repaving of Las Vegas Boulevard Expected to Cause Headaches for Motorists

LAS VEGAS – The famed Las Vegas Strip is about to get a major overhaul in the form of a massive repaving, and it’s one that’s sure to create a major headache for local area drivers throughout the course of the multi-year effort, which represents a joint effort of the Las Vegas Valley Water District and Clark County.

A 5.7 mile stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard, ranging from 215 Beltway to Sahara Avenue, is going to be experiencing ongoing work beginning in June of this year, with the project expected to be finished by July of 2022, according to the Clark County Public Works department.

While the roadway will be receiving a fresh start on life, the work also opens up the opportunity for the Las Vegas Valley Water District to install new water mains in place of old ones that were sorely in need of replacement; this includes dual lines in some regions. Also, further enhancements will be added to Las Vegas Boulevard throughout the construction process; multiple improvements and upgrades to the infrastructure are slated to include technology governing pedestrian safety, new roadway medians, and the installation of new, energy-efficient LED lighting.

In addition, there are plans to add a fourth lane to the Boulevard in order to alleviate traffic congestion in the area and enhance safety as it relates to foot traffic; local pavement, officials say, is currently in poor shape, and this project is aimed at addressing it.

Clark County officials have noted that they are taking great pains to conduct the repaving and renovation work on Las Vegas Boulevard as quickly as possible. While seeking to avoid impacting or worsening local traffic congestion – an estimated 36,000 to 60,000 vehicles utilize the Boulevard on a daily basis – work will be carried out at night, between 2 a.m. and 10 a.m. on Monday through Thursday.

County officials have noted that work has been coordinated convention hall and resort owners along the Las Vegas Strip to ensure that major meetings, entertainment conventions and expos are not impacted by the repaving and other rehab work being carried out. At least two lanes in either direction are slated to remain open at all times during all phases of the project, officials say.

The construction will be carried out in five phases throughout a three-year work schedule; Phase A is estimated to cost approximately $33 million and cover the region of the roadway from Sahara to Spring Mountain Road. The complete cost of the project, including all five phases, has yet to be estimated, 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.