Category Archive : Investing

LAS VEGAS, NV – The Bascom Group – a significant player as of late in the Southern Nevada real estate scene – has announced the purchase of Sun Chase, a 200-unit multifamily property in Las Vegas for over $40 million.

Scott McClave, Bascom’s Senior Principal of Acquisitions, noted that the purchase was driven by the city’s continued population and employment growth and the subsequent – and continuing – high demand for apartment rental options.

“Sun Chase is a highly desirable asset as it was previously owner-managed with a focus on maintaining occupancy,” he said. “This acquisition offers tremendous opportunity to optimize property operations through institutional property management and a focused renovation program. Macro factors such as population growth, employment growth and diversification, and an ongoing housing supply/demand imbalance continue to a foster a highly favorable rental market.”

Bascom purchased Sun Chase for $40,500,000, which translates to $202,000 per unit; the firm stated that Apartment Management Consultants would be providing property management services for their tenants.

Originally built in 1984, Sun Chase is described as a “low density” apartment community, consisting of one and two-bedroom units with many of its floorplans including private patios or balconies. In addition, the complex includes many amenities for residents, including a fitness center, resident clubhouse, pool / BBQ area, and a putting green.

Upon their purchase of the community, Bascom announced that they would be sinking a significant sum of money into the property in an attempt to “modernize” it; renovations to the fitness center, clubhouse, and pool areas are planned, and the putting green is slated to be repurposed into a landscaped park area for residents that will feature a shaded play structure, BBQ station, and seating areas.

Sun Chase is located in the vicinity of multiple attractions in the Las Vegas valley, including the world-famous Las Vegas Strip, the Hughes Center, and the newly-built Allegiant Stadium, home of the NFL Las Vegas Raiders.

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 St. Croix multifamily community in Las Vegas was recently purchased by SB Real Estate Partners for $73.1 million from Strata Equity, which represents the second high-profile – and high-priced – acquisition of a Southern Nevada apartment complex by SB in 2021.

The 256-unit, 21-building garden-style St. Croix community was purchased in an off-market transaction, and will be rebranded as Portola West Vegas. SB is planning on infusing the property with $4 million in upgrades and renovations – both to the inside and out – to reportedly increase its “competitiveness” in the Las Vegas marketplace.

The community was last sold in 2013, when Strata Equity bought it for $18.7 million; the $73.1 million price they got from SB represents a whopping fourfold increase on Strata’s initial investment in the property.

SB has announced their intention to commit a significant amount of investment resources – to the amount of $300 million – into the Las Vegas metro marketplace in 2022 with several more purchases of rental properties in the cards.

Their first entry into the Las Vegas real estate marketplace was made this past November when SB purchased the 241-unit Russell Apartments, which has since been rebranded as Portola on Russell; extensive renovations in the amount of $2 million were announced for that property as well.

SB noted at the time of Russell’s purchase the property would be the first of many investments the firm would make in higher-end Las Vegas apartment complexes that they would be offering at lower-than-average rental price points.

The firm was initially attracted to the Las Vegas marketplace by the population boom in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw many families transplanting themselves to Southern Nevada from states with higher costs of living, attracted by promises of a cheaper lifestyle, a booming economy, and a blossoming job market.

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 – Steve Witkoff, a former developer of the Las Vegas Fontainebleau resort – which has since progressed in his absence – has announced a new project in Florida this year.

Developer Steve Witkoff has trumpeted a new project, which will be to redevelop the Shore Club in Miami Beach in 2021. The hotel – situated within two miles of the Fontainebleau Miami Beach, which has the same current owner as its Las Vegas counterpart – closed at the inception of the COVID-19 pandemic and has remained shuttered ever since.

Both the Shore Club and the Fontainebleau are located on Collins Avenue, a hotel-specific thoroughfare which mainly features establishments and lodging that caters to beach partiers. Witkoff’s company has plans in-place to destroy portions of the Shore Club complex and reduce the overall number of its rooms. In addition – according to plans filed this fall with the city of Miami Beach– Witkoff intends to construct a residential tower as well.

The buyers did not disclose in a recent press release what exactly will be built upon the site for the project’s estimated cost of $94 million, but they noted that the 4.7-acre site — located near a train station, a pro basketball arena, and several high-rises — has zoning that allows for 60-plus stories and a combination of residential and commercial uses.

Prior to this deal, Witkoff had claimed ownership of one of Las Vegas’ tallest buildings when he purchased the still under-construction Fontainebleau Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip in 2017 for $600 million. However, the hotel resort’s original developer then re-acquired the project in February 2021 from Witkoff – which at that point was still unfinished – and announced plans in November to finally open the establishment in 2023.

The Fontainebleau Las Vegas will mostly adhere to the original vision that was laid out for it back when the project was first envisioned in 2007, and will consist of a 67-story tower containing 3,780 hotel rooms and suites, 550,000 square feet of convention and meeting space, a casino, restaurants, and other amenities. Once completed, the project will provide approximately 6,000 full-time employees, which will greatly add to Las Vegas’ blossoming job market.

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 Biden Administration’s Treasury Department is looking to crack down on all-cash real estate transactions by enacting more stringent reporting requirements, which is intended to curb money laundering activity. This is pertinent to Las Vegas, as the city is slated to be included in the initial batch of U.S. cities that the regulation will pertain to if it comes to pass.

The Treasury Department noted that the regulation is intended to essentially plug what they say is a “vulnerability” in the American real estate market. At the moment, title insurance companies in only 12 metropolitan areas in the entire country are mandated to report individuals who purchase real estate in all-cash transactions through shell companies if the amount is higher than $300,000.

Himamauli Das, acting director of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, said that the regulation will crack down on bad actors’ use of the American real estate market to launder money made through illegal acts.

“Increasing transparency in the real estate sector will curb the ability of corrupt officials and criminals to launder the proceeds of their ill-gotten gains through the U.S. real estate market,” Das said. “The regulation will strengthen U.S. national security and help protect the integrity of the U.S. financial system.”

If passed, the regulation would initially expand reporting requirements to apply to an additional 12 metropolitan areas: Las Vegas, Boston; Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle.

Corrupt government officials – in addition to other criminal elements – from around the world have reportedly been utilizing the American real estate marketplace to launder proceeds from criminal activity

The U.S. real estate market has long been viewed as a stable way station for corrupt government officials around the globe and other illicit actors looking to launder proceeds from criminal activity by utilizing shell companies to buy property in the United States.

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 — Elon Musk’s Boring Company is currently one step closer getting the approvals it needs to begin construction on its so-called “Las Vegas Loop,” which would see the developer of the successful Las Vegas Convention Center “people mover” create a similar project running underneath the famed Las Vegas Strip.

Next week, the Boring Company will be attending a series of meetings with Clark County officials in an attempt to gain the approvals it needs to make the Las Vegas Loop a reality. The project would consist of a 15-mile underground dual-tunnel system that will ferry people back and forth through the Resort Corridor – with additional stops at Allegiant Stadium and UNLV – via automated Tesla electric vehicles.

Boring Company will be presenting a proposal for the alignment of the proposed route to Clark County officials next week; however, each stop along the proposed route would need additional individual land use permits before they can be constructed, which may represent a lengthy procedural process for billionaire Elon Musk’s company.

Plans classify the Las Vegas Loop as a monorail, but this is not accurate; in reality, passengers would be whisked to their destinations on paved roads and in unmanned Tesla electric cars. 

Currently, the Las Vegas Loop is slated to stretch underground along Las Vegas Boulevard from Russell Road to Sahara Avenue, with additional stops to the North of Sahara that are outside of the city of Las Vegas’ jurisdiction; these stops will have to acquire additional permits before they can be developed.

In addition, a particular route – dubbed “Caesars Loop” – will stop at several properties operated by Caesars Entertainment on Las Vegas Boulevard, as well as connecting to the previously up-and-running “people mover” that the Boring Company had constructed for the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Boring is also seeking a franchise agreement that would enable them to establish the times that the loop would operate, collect fares, and sell advertising and concession deals, and offer discounts to patrons of various hotels and casinos.

If the franchise agreement is granted and Boring is unable to complete construction of the Las Vegas Loop for whatever reason within a specified period, they will be on the hook for filling in any tunnels that may have already been excavated.

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 – After numerous delays, the construction of the Majestic Las Vegas – a new hotel located just off the Las Vegas Strip – is slated to have its groundbreaking in early 2022 according to the hotel’s website, which touts the facility as being a “one of a kind” non-gaming, non-smoking, ultra luxury resort.

The hotel, which will cost $850 million, will be located on the site of the Clarion Hotel on Convention Center Drive, across from the newly expanded convention center. The Clarion was purchased in 2014 by developer Lorenzo Doumani, who eventually tore the hotel down nine months later in anticipation of developing the Majestic on the property.

Originally, the Majestic was to have been completed in the summer of 2021, but ran into numerous delays. However, even with the announced early 2022 starting date, the developer anticipates the project being completed by late 2024.

Once completed, the Majestic – which will be developed by Lorenzo Doumani’s Majestic Resorts – will feature 720 rooms and will not have gambling or smoking allowed on the premises. According to the five-star hotel’s website, it has been designed by renowned architect Paul Steelman and will have six “extraordinary” freestanding restaurants, 270,000 square feet of Corporate Sky Suites located on the tower’s top ten floors, and an “all encompassing” medical wellness spa and fitness facility that will be “amongst the finest of its kind anywhere in the world.”

“I think what’s not here; what’s lacking is a high-end boutique, non-gaming, non-smoking, ultra-classy sophisticated kind of place and that’s what we’re going to do,” he said.

Prices of suites will start at $10 million, reports say, with Doumani – who originally officially announced the project in 2019 – saying that the Majestic is something different for Las Vegas, which is exactly what the city needs at this point in time.

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 – Businesswoman, writer, and famed television personality Martha Stewart has announced that she will be opening a restaurant at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel and Casino, which is planning to demolish part of the existing building to make room to accommodate the new eatery.

The information for the new venture was obtained via paperwork for a construction permit for the facility, which is currently named simply “Martha Stewart Restaurant,” but will most likely obtain a more colorful moniker later on. The restaurant is slated to take the place of the recently-closed Martorano’s, a South Philadelphia-inspired eatery.

Stewart will not be the only celebrity to have a restaurant at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel and Casino; instead, she will find herself in the company of Gordon Ramsay Steak – an ultramodern spot serving dishes such as beef Wellington in a “boisterous British setting” – and Brioche by Guy Savoy, a sweet and savory grab-and-go brioche shop offering delectable flaky French pastries.

In addition, this winter will see Paris Las Vegas also open the Vanderpump à Paris, a cocktail bar by British restaurateur, designer, television personality Lisa Vanderpump.

Stewart’s previous attempt at entering the restaurant field was in New York City when she opened the Martha Stewart Café in 2015, which permanently closed its doors for business in 2019.

Caesars Entertainment – the owner of Paris Las Vegas – has yet to officially announce Stewart’s restaurant, nor have any announcements been made in regards to the type of cuisine the establishment plans to serve or its anticipated opening date, but word will likely come soon as construction permits have already been applied for.

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 Southwest Las Vegas Valley will be seeing a new $500 million mixed-use campus being constructed in the near future, situated upon an area that was previously home to an aborted attempt at development after the mid-2000’s economy crash that has sat vacant ever since.

The project, dubbed Evora, is slated to be developed by Joe Sorge, whose resume features ownership of a gene analysis company and a producer’s credit on a Netflix comedy – unusual credits for someone looking to develop a mixed-use real estate venture – and will feature apartments, office space, and restaurants.

Evora will be located on a 42-acre plot of property on Buffalo Drive between Post Road and Patrick Lane, and construction is already in the works. Once completed – which Sorge has stated will take approximately five years – the campus will boast an apartment complex with 1,343 units, 240,000 square feet of commercial space, and underground parking garage.

Sorge indeed possesses experience in the apartment complex development game; he previously was responsible for building Evo, a luxury apartment complex that he sold for over $100 million prior to the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the demand for rental properties ever-increasing in Las Vegas as the city’s economy continues to recover from both the recession and the pandemic, more and more developers are getting in on mixed-use projects; UnCommons, also being constructed in the southwest valley, will offer 40 acres of apartments, restaurants, and office space.

However, despite the recent increase in investment in mixed-use properties in Las Vegas, these ventures are typically more difficult to acquire funding for, Sorge said, and there are other hurdles to overcome as well once the project has been completed, including difficulty leasing units if the economy hasn’t recovered causing tenants to go bankrupt and not pay rent.

However, Sorge is forging ahead despite the risks, and has noted that Evora will offer a “resort lifestyle” for tenants, with apartments from 700 to 1,500 square feet and rents from $1,600 to $3,200 a month and numerous amenities that will include a 1-mile perimeter walking trail, saunas and steam rooms, pickleball and tennis courts, and a yoga studio.

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 in Las Vegas has been setting records for months, thanks in part to cheap money in the form of low-interest mortgages and a serious increase in buyers from out of state – many from California, who are looking for investment opportunities, and when you put those two factors together, you get a town that is on-course to becoming the house-flipping capital of the country.

Southern Nevada has been described by experts as an “extreme seller’s market” as of late, so when it comes to flipping a home – that is, buying it, renovating it, and then selling it for a profit – competition can be fierce for buyers; however, when it comes to selling, these homes are often going for more than their asking prices.

The demand for housing in Las Vegas –  and indeed, across the United States – is such that it has given birth to a new flipping phenomenon known as “iBuyers,” or “instant buyers,” which are people who will buy a home, make “light repairs,” and then “quickly resell” them for a profit. Oftentimes a buyer will have offers within 24 hours of listing a property, reports say, and often they will be in the form of cash due to the influx of wealthy out-of-state investors.

Investors have been snapping up homes across the country in recent months, but the focus as of late appears to specifically be Southern Nevada. Reports say that residential real estate investors purchased 3,043 homes in the Las Vegas area in the second quarter of 2021, which represents a whopping increase of 279 percent from the second quarter of 2020 – the highest year-over-year increase nationally – when the market was being negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nearly 23 percent of all homes bought in Southern Nevada during the first quarter of 2021 were by investors, reports say, and the region was ranked fifth nationally among 41 metro areas in the number of investor purchases.

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 Blackstone Group, an investment management company based in New York City, is reportedly going to be putting the Cosmopolitan resort of Las Vegas up for sale, and their hefty asking price is said to be at least $5 billion, if not more.

Two years ago, Blackstone had attempted to sell the Cosmopolitan for a $4 billion asking price, but at the time found no takers, yet as time went by and the COVID-19 pandemic took hold of the country, prices of casinos have nonetheless continued to rise as investment firms have often bought them and then split the costs with management firms they bring in to run things.

Some real estate experts have speculated that a potential taker for Blackstone’s offer may be Apollo Global Management Inc., which has been purchasing casinos globally; MGM Resorts International is also being talked about as a possible partner and property manager, although there have been no official statements from either organization confirming this.

The Cosmopolitan, which encountered financial difficulty during its $3.9 billion construction phase due to the mid-2000’s recession, finally opened its doors for business in 2010; it was later sold by owner Deutsche Bank AG who would then sell the resort for $1.73 billion to Blackstone in 2014.

The Cosmopolitan is located just south of the Bellagio on the west side of Las Vegas Boulevard, between CityCenter and the Blackstone-owned Bellagio casino. The resort consists of two high-rise towers – the Boulevard Tower and the Chelsea Tower – and 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 – A real estate firm from Atlanta, Georgia has gotten into the highly competitive Southern Nevada rental marketplace with the recent announcement they have purchased two large apartment complexes located in the east-side of the Las Vegas Valley.

The firm, known as Carroll, noted that they had acquired the Emerald Springs, a 436-unit complex, in addition to The Meadows, a 383-unit building situated only three miles away and located on the very same road, which is Nellis Boulevard; Emerald Springs is near Bonanza Road, and The Meadows is near Desert Inn Road.

While Carroll did not mention the amount the firm paid for the two apartment complexes, public records from Clark County reveal that the properties sold for a combined total of $163.25 million.

Investors have been buying rental properties in Las Vegas in droves as of late, fueled by low borrowing costs and a demand from consumers moving to the city for its flourishing job market and relatively low cost of living. Records indicate that 10,424 Las Vegas apartments were purchased by investors in 2021 through the month of July, in comparison with the same period of time in 2020, was only 3,065 acquired. 

David Perez, Carroll’s chief operating officer, confirmed in a statement to media that both Emerald Springs and The Meadows are currently 96 percent occupied when the purchases took place, ending a three or four-year quest on the part of the firm to find the right rental space in the Las Vegas area to invest in.

Carroll also has rental holdings in the western region of the U.S. and that Las Vegas has proved an especially attractive city to invest in as its economy is still in the process of recovering from the pandemic and tourists – which are a driving force of Vegas’ financial well-being – are finally starting to coming back.

Also, in contrast to the rising rent rates in Vegas as of late – the average rent jumped 22.7% year over year in July – Perez noted that while maintenance will be improved at the two properties, the firm is not looking to raise rates for tenants in an effort to provide affordable housing.

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 – Right before the COVID-19 pandemic hit and turned everything upside down, health and fitness company Life Time Inc. had purchased a large empty pit in Las Vegas – right next to Ikea – with plans of transforming the holdover from the mid-2000’s recession into a high-end health club.

However, the pandemic – with its subsequent lockdowns and other health-related restrictions – effectively put a wrench into the works, but Life Time has recently announced that plans for the health club are still going forward.

A Life Time spokeswoman has confirmed – but also noted that plans could still change – that construction on the oft-delayed project is slated to finally begin in the spring of 2022, with hopes of a late 2023 opening for the health club.

The 15-acre plot, located at the southeast corner of Sunset Road and Durango Drive, would take the form of a 60 foot-tall, three-story “athletic resort destination” coming in at a sizable 125,500 square feet. Amenities for club members would include weightlifting, indoor and outdoor pools, fitness classes, sport courts, spa and salon services, and more, according to documents originally submitted to Clark County in 2020 for Life Time’s Southwest Valley Club.

The site of the project was originally planned to have been utilized by a different developer for a high-rise apartment complex in the mid-2000’s, but the burst of the housing bubble derailed those plans and the property – located in a rapidly-goring section of Vegas between Summerlin and Henderson –  has sat vacant ever since.

Health clubs have been one of the more financially beleaguered industries during the pandemic due to government-mandated lockdown orders issued to curb the spread of COVID-19. Even after gyms were allowed to reopen, mandated mask policies and other health requirements resulted in many club members remaining leery about returning there to work out.

However, a Time Life spokesperson has noted that the company has seen “solid consumer demand for our offerings” and is “very pleased as we’ve emerged from the past 17 months.”

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.