Category Archive : Investing

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 – A local developer, who already has a new rental property in the works in downtown Las Vegas, is now eyeing constructing additional properties in a traditionally underserved section of the city – the Historic Westside – that would greatly benefit from the addition of new rental units amid great demand.

Developer Sam Cherry of Cherry Development’s plans for a five-story, 84-unit rental property that is slated to include an additional 10,000 square-feet of retail and office space, was approved last week by the Las Vegas City Council.

The project is to be built upon a city-owned one-acre plot of land near Washington Avenue and Interstate 15 that Cherry had previously purchased for a mere $6; the tiny fee was due to the fact that the apartment complex is aimed at providing housing for local workforce members.

Cherry noted that the retail aspect of the Historic Westside development will likely consist of food and beverage establishments, as well as other types of businesses; the project in total is anticipated to cost approximately $22 million, with the official groundbreaking expected to take place in 2023.

Cedric Crear, one of the members of the City Council that voted to approve the project, stated that he was unable to remember the last time that anyone had built any sort of housing in Historic Westside, and it is hoped that Cherry’s work will spur additional development in the region.

Cherry had previously opened a 63-unit rental complex in Las Vegas’ Arts District two years ago, and currently has an 84-unit project underway on Fremont Street that is expected to be completed in January 2023. These projects are addressing a housing shortage in Las Vegas’ downtown area, something that local officials have said is sorely needed.

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 – Whenever Las Vegas does anything, the city does it big. And that includes when one of its iconic structures has outlives its usefulness and a very real need exists to cast it aside to that the land may be used for another purpose.

Multiple buildings along the famed Las Vegas Strip are currently set for demolition and implosion by their ownership in order to make way for new development. First and foremost, plans by Texas billionaire businessman Tilman Fertitta were recently approved by the Clark County Commission, paving the way for a currently-unnamed resort to be built upon a 6.3-acre plot of land on the east side of Las Vegas Boulevard South and Harmon Avenue.

Currently, the site is occupied by a restaurant building, souvenir shops and an out-of-business motel, all of which will have to be razed to the ground before development on Fertitta’s resort can begin.

Other buildings slated for demolition in Vegas in the near future include a cluster of existing properties – including the now-shuttered Hawaiian Marketplace – located on a 9.5 acre plot of land just south of Fertitta’s proposed resort, which would be destroyed to make room for a 300,000 square-foot retail complex.

In addition, Texas Station, Fiesta Rancho and Fiesta Henderson – all shuttered since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic – are also scheduled to be blown up, as announced by owner of the property, Station Casinos parent Red Rock Resorts; the firm also announced plans to demolish the small Wild Wild West in order to redevelop that property as well.

And finally, plans submitted by real estate firm Tolles Development Co. were approved to tear down a shuttered hotel-casino 25 miles south of the Strip in Jean to clear the way for a 2 million-square-foot industrial park.

In the past, numerous buildings in Vegas have been blown up not only as a means of clearing the land for new construction, but also as a spectacle for onlookers, with implosions often accompanied by fireworks as onlookers cheer. Among the buildings that have been imploded in Vegas over the past 15 years to make way for new development include the Dunes, Sands, Desert Inn, Stardust, New Frontier, and many others.

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 Venetian Las Vegas is set to receive a major overhaul, as operator Apollo Global Management has announced their intention to invest a whopping $1 billion into a massive remodel of the hotel-casino, which will be one of the most extensive projects of its type on the Las Vegas Strip in quite some time.

The Venetian Las Vegas, which originally opened on May 3, 1999, is located on the site of the old Sands Hotel. Owned by Vici Properties, The Venetian resort complex includes the adjacent Palazzo resort, The Venetian Convention and Expo Center, and the upcoming MSG Sphere at The Venetian, a high-tech entertainment venue. The Venetian-Palazzo complex includes the world’s second-largest hotel, with 4,049 rooms, 3,068 suites and a 120,000 square-foot casino.

Venetian CEO Patrick Nichols confirmed in a recent interview that the remodel of The Venetian that the company would be “investing north of $1 billion, touching every area of the guest experience” over the course of the remodeling project.

“We are looking to elevate our experiences resort-wide. Arrival experiences will be different,” he said. “For both The Venetian and The Palazzo, we plan to renovate, remodel, and redesign all of our suites. We will be offering a number of new [food-and-beverage] concepts, we are taking a deep look at entertainment, nightlife, and bar offerings, and the casino floor will feel significantly different as well.”

In addition, the venue will also introduce an all-new pool deck; a 47,000-square-foot, $50-million TAO Beach Dayclub; and the first restaurant in the United States helmed by world-renowned chef Tetsuya Wakuda, with all redevelopment master-planned by Los Angeles-based design firm RIOS.

However, while a great many things will be changing about The Venetian, Nichols noted that the one thing that will steadfastly remain when all is said and done is the venue’s iconic name.

“We are a themed hotel and we will always be a themed hotel,” he said. “That sets us apart, but the Italy of the ’90s that The Venetian was modeled after has evolved. If we are able to lean into that through the spirit of Italy and discovery, we are not going to look like just another hotel that has refreshed their rooms.”

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 – Plans for a massive resort and casino on the famed Las Vegas Strip submitted by Houston, Texas-based billionaire businessman Tilman Fertitta have been approved by the Clark County Commission, paving the way for work on the luxury establishment to begin in the near future.

Fertitta’s currently-unnamed resort is slated to be constructed upon a 6.3-acre plot of land located on the east side of Las Vegas Boulevard South and Harmon Avenue near the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino. When completed, the resort will have an impressive 2,420 rooms spread out over 42 stories, in addition to a 2,536 seat theater and an on-site multi-story parking garage as well.

Clark County records indicate that the resort will also include retail space, indoor and outdoor restaurants, an extensive 37,000 square-foot spa and fitness center, 91,000 square-feet of convention space, business offices, a wedding chapel, and even an auto showroom.

Fertitta – owner of Fertitta Entertainment Incorporated – reportedly paid the sum of $270 million in June for the parcel of land that the establishment is to be built upon. No stranger to hotel-casinos, Fertitta is also responsible for the Golden Nugget Las Vegas as well as gambling venues in New Jersey, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

Rebecca Miltenberger, a lawyer from the Las Vegas law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP that represents Fertitta Entertainment Incorporated, recently laid out the approximate timeline for completion of the project for Clark County Commissioners.

“We are very excited to bring this project to fruition over the next two years,” she said.

Despite nationwide inflation reaching levels not seen in 40 years, large-scale construction projects are still making major progress in Las Vegas, with multiple venues currently in the works, including entertainment, gambling, and medical complexes, which have all begun to spring up en masse in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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 – Plans submitted by Station Casinos – whose parent company is Red Rock Resorts – to construct a new hotel-casino project were recently approved by the North Las Vegas Planning Commission, with the company scheduled next to go before the commission for a first reading and a vote in October.

The Station Casinos project, according to reports, will be built upon a 67 acre plot of land located at the northwest corner of Losee Road and the 215 Beltway, and upon completion will consist of a hotel featuring 600 rooms, a casino with over 75,700 square-feet dedicated to gaming space, as well as numerous high-end amenities such as restaurants, a movie theater, and banquet facilities.

The new Station Casinos resort will prove to be a boon to the local economy as well, with officials representing Red Rock Resorts noting that its development will produce over 1,100 construction jobs and, once open for business, 840 full-time staffing jobs.

Red Rock Resorts is a big-time player in the hospitality industry, and owns multiple hotel-casinos in Southern Nevada under the Station brand, as well as ten Wildfire casinos, with seven located in the Henderson area alone. In addition, a new Wildfire is currently under development in Las Vegas’ downtown area along Fremont Street, a busy tourist destination.

The developer is also in the process of constructing a new resort casino in Southwestern Las Vegas at the intersection of Durango Drive and Interstate 215, which will consist of 73,000-square-foot casino, sports book, a 200-room hotel, four restaurants and meeting space.

Red Rock also announced recently that three casinos they had closed down during the COVID-19 pandemic – Fiesta Henderson, Fiesta Rancho and Texas Station – are now closed permanently, with the buildings slated for demolition and the 107.5 acres of land they currently occupy to be put up for sale. The reasoning for the move, the company noted, was that the casinos’ patrons had taken their business to other Red Rock-owned properties during the closures.

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 – Although the reasoning and purpose for doing so as of press time is still unclear, the Las Vegas Raiders ownership have purchased a vacant property located directly across the street from their home – Allegiant Stadium – for $16.56 million, with records indicating that the sale officially closed earlier in September.

The 2.7 acre property – which had previously been slated to be used to build a hotel, although those plans were later scrapped – is located on Polaris Avenue just west of the stadium, and media inquiries as to the Raiders’ plans for the land were not responded to.

The sale – aside from driving speculation as to what the Raiders intend to do with the property – is serving to illustrate just how much property values have soared in Las Vegas recently, especially when it comes to the heart of its downtown area. Case in point: the property that the Raiders paid over $16 million for in September 2021 is made up of two parcels that had previously sold at different points in recent history for a combined total of $7.8 million.

When asked by local media, Clark County Commissioner Michael Naft noted that the Raiders may have made the purchase in order to beef up Allegiant Stadium’s parking options for attendees.

“They’re always looking at options for closer and on-site parking,” speculated Naft.

If that is the case, it wouldn’t be the first time the Raiders have splashed out for property near the stadium in order to construct parking; in 2019, while the 65,000-seat stadium was still in development, the team spent over $28 million to buy a 17.3 acre plot of land located about one mile away in order to build a parking facility with approximately 2,700 spots.

Currently, Allegiant Stadium has over 35,000 parking spaces situated within one mile of the venue; the property purchased by the Raiders earlier this month already has a small, exclusive lot that attendees can park in for $100 per event.

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 home of the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders, Allegiant Stadium, is due to receive a new neighbor on Las Vegas Boulevard in the form of a new hotel in order to give the hundreds of thousands of individuals who travel to Southern Nevada per year to watch the pro football team’s games a nearer place to stay.

In 2021 over 1 million sporting fans flocked to Allegiant Stadium, and out of that impressive number, approximately 500,000 of them were visitors from out-of-state. Therefore, after proving to be such a draw as the nation emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, real estate firm New Angle Development got the bright idea to propose the development of a new hotel right next to Allegiant to give visitors the opportunity to stay as close as possible to the Raiders’ home base.

The currently unnamed project, whose plans have already been submitted to Clark County officials, will take the form of a $275 million, 19-story, 340-room establishment that will be loaded with the high-quality amenities that would be expected of any hotel located on the famed Las Vegas Strip, including a restaurant, spa, pool bar, rooftop bar, ballroom and meeting space.

Clark County Commissioners are scheduled to review the project plans on October 4, 2022; if approval is granted, New Angle Development has stated they expect the project’s groundbreaking to take place in early 2024.

Approval for the project is expected to be granted provided there are no unexpected hurdles, as Clark County’s Comprehensive Planning Department has been quoted as saying that the site chosen by the developer for this hotel would be “ideal” for a hotel, given the high number of tourists that are drawn to Las Vegas each year for Raiders games and other events at Allegiant Stadium.

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 – Blackstone Inc., a private equity firm based in New York City, confirmed in an earnings report released last Thursday that their sale of The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas for $5.65 billion – originally announced in September 2021 – was their “most profitable single asset sale ever” in terms of the company’s real estate dealings.

Blackstone had entered into an agreement with MGM Resorts International in 2021 to sell operations of The Cosmopolitan – located on the Las Vegas Strip – for $1.625 billion. In addition, the hotel and casino’s real estate assets were purchased by the Cherng Family Trust, set up by the owners of the fast-food chain Panda Express, for over $4 billion.

As per the deal, MGM Resorts International will run the daily operations of the venue for the next 30 years, with three options to renew their lease once it expires for an additional 10 years each time. MGM will pay the Cherng Family Trust a yearly rent of $200 million, with a yearly increase of two percent for the first 15 years of their lease.

Due to an exemption allowed under a 2007 state law that spares companies from paying tax when property owners transfer real estate to a subsidiary, the Blackstone deal produced no funds in the form of real estate transfer taxes for the city of Las Vegas. This law is essentially a legal loophole that several high-priced resort sales have taken advantage of in recent years, and is an issue that Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak is urging state legislators to address in their next session.

The Cosmopolitan originally opened its doors for business in 2010, and was later sold by owner Deutsche Bank AG to Blackstone in 2014 for $1.73 billion. The firm then put a whopping $500 million into renovating the resort, which 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 150,000 square-feet of meeting and convention space.

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 the national housing market has showed distinct signs of slowing down after mid-pandemic buying frenzies fueled by low mortgage rates dominated the industry, the high sales rate of new luxury homes in Las Vegas appears to remain red-hot in 2022, with the market already showing a distinct increase when compared to the same period of time in 2021.

Reports show that 235 homes costing $1 million or more have closed during the first six months of 2022 in Las Vegas so far, which represents a 16 jump over the number of luxury homes closed on during first six months of 2021.

These numbers show a dramatic jump in sales of new luxury homes in Vegas when compared to prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, in the first six months of 2017, 52 luxury homes were sold in the region, 87 in 2018, and 123 in 2019; sales only dipped slightly to 115 in 2020 due to the pandemic.

Some of those record-breaking figures for 2022 can be attributed to the rising cost of construction supplies brought about by COVID-19-related supply chain issues, which in-turn contributes to the rising costs of home-building overall.

And despite record-breaking sales of luxury homes in the Southern Nevada region continuing unabated so far this year, developers report they are seeing some high-priced buyers being a tad more cautious about how exactly they spend their hard-earned dollars in the face of the 40-year high inflation that is bombarding the country.

However, even the recently-rising interest rates on home mortgages that have slowed the real estate industry as a whole have not significantly impacted the Vegas luxury marketplace, according to Blue Heron CEO and founder Tyler Jones, a developer of high-end homes in the region.

“These are people that aren’t as affected by interest rate changes,” Jones said. “If you’re going to buy a multimillion-dollar home, and interest rates go up a point, that’s not going to stop you from buying the home.”

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 – Ground was officially broken last Friday on Dream Las Vegas, a swanky new $550 million luxury hotel and casino complex situated upon the southern end of the Las Vegas Strip that is slated to open its doors for business in 2024.

Originally announced in February of 2020, Southern California firms Shopoff Realty Investments and Contour will now begin development in earnest on the 20-story establishment which, when completed, will encompass 531 guestrooms and suites. There will also be numerous amenities for guests, such as a third-level pool deck, a bar and lounge concept on the gaming floor, restaurants, nightlife options, meeting and event space, and more.

The hotel is being built upon a vacant 5.25-acre plot of land located at 5051 South Las Vegas Boulevard that Shopoff and Contour originally purchased for $21 million from Fort Lauderdale-based real estate firm Lily Funds; the property sale closed on February 14, 2020.

However, construction on the project was initially delayed for undisclosed reasons – but presumably due to complications from the COVID-19 pandemic – based on a quote from Shopoff Realty Investments’ President and CEO William Shopoff when the project was first announced.

“We anticipate breaking ground late this year, probably more likely early next year,” he said back in 2020.

The hotel will be managed by New York-based Dream Hotel Group, according to Dream Hotel Group CEO Jay Stein, and said that Dream would present a unique destination for inhabitants and visitors to Las Vegas when it opens in 2024.

“When open, Dream Las Vegas will be unlike anything else currently available on the Las Vegas Strip, offering a new go-to destination for locals and out-of-town pleasure seekers alike,” he said.

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 – Silverado Square, a 48,500 square-foot retail shopping center in Southern Nevada, has been sold to a major Chicago-based landlord for the sum of $24.4 million.

Silverado Square, originally developed by Scott Godino, has been purchased by Jones Lang LaSalle Income Property Trust as confirmed by the company’s spokesperson, with the sale having closed on June 1, according to Clark County property records.

The shopping center – which is almost fully occupied with tenants – located in the southern Las Vegas Valley at Silverado Ranch Boulevard and Maryland Parkway, is adjacent to an intersection with several other retail outlets, including two that have major supermarkets – an Albertsons and a Smith’s – as anchor stores.

Jones Lang LaSalle Income Property Trust currently possesses 120 properties across 27 states, which totals over 17.4 million square feet of commercial real estate and approximately 9,700 residential units. The company already owns other commercial properties in Las Vegas, including a northwest valley-based, 190,000 square-foot strip mall purchased in 2017 for $63.5 million.

Shopping centers in Vegas have been a hot commodity amongst investors in recent years, with 18 being purchased in the first quarter of 2022 alone, compared to the 37 that were purchased throughout the entirety of 2021.

It remains to be seen if this high purchase rate endures until the end of the year, however, as rising interest rates on loans are resulting in higher borrowing costs, this could curtail continued investment in commercial real estate, both in Las Vegas and throughout the United States as a whole.

However, reports indicate that rising interest rates could give investors willing to pay cash for their real estate transactions a distinct advantage going forward, given that there will be less competition overall; it remains to be seen how the current economic climate will play out through the remainder of the year.

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.