LAS VEGAS | Boom Project Rundown! 2.0 - Page 82

DracoCaifan · #**1621** Posted **Mar 2, 2007, 8:13 AM**

Does someone have more updated photos!!! More photos please!!!

philip · #**1622** Posted **Mar 2, 2007, 8:11 PM**

I don't really mind people posting their opnions about real estate investment. I only look at posts that have pictures anyway. Sometimes I look at real estate posts, but only if it has an interesting heading.

mdiederi · #**1623** Posted **Mar 2, 2007, 10:37 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by DracoCaifan

Does someone have more updated photos!!! More photos please!!!

I've been out of town so don't have anything new, but here are some of the north side of Ancore that I took a month ago. Don't think I posted them here before.

Patrick · #**1624** Posted **Mar 3, 2007, 12:19 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by gmcclenon

Great idea! Can we put it under "City Compilations"? Or should it go somewhere else?

I suggest the "Mountian West" Fourm.
SkyscraperPage Forum > Regional Sections > United States > Mountian West

mdiederi · #**1625** Posted **Mar 3, 2007, 4:57 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by VEGA$MAN

Also - IS THERE SOME REASON WHY THERE ISN'T A SEARCH FUNCTION ON THIS SITE TO ALLOW US TO FIND A BETTER SECTION TO POST SUCH COMMENTARY UNDER AS WELL AS MAKE IT USER FRIENDLY???

I noticed this at the top of one of the index pages.

Quote:

**Server Upgrade** - The forum is being transferred to a new server soon, and may be offline temporarily at some point.

So it looks like the administrators are finally starting the process of moving the forum to a new server and hopefully they'll get it up to the same speed that skyscrapercity.com did in their last upgrade, because ssc was able to reinstitute the search function and the pages load very fast now. Unfortunately, it seems a lot of Las Vegas posters left ssc while it was down during the month-long upgrade last fall.

mdiederi · #**1626** Posted **Mar 4, 2007, 6:23 PM**

Quote:

Saturday, March 3, 2007

Owners sell aging Sahara casino in Vegas

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LAS VEGAS -- Owners of the Sahara Hotel and Casino, a Rat Pack hangout and the setting of the original "Ocean's Eleven" film, have agreed to sell the aging property to an investor group.

Officials from Los Angeles-based SBE Entertainment Group LLC and San Mateo, Calif.-based Stockbridge Real Estate Funds said they've entered into a contract to purchase the Moroccan-themed casino and hotel from Gordon Gaming Corp. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"The Sahara is one of the last remaining original properties on the Las Vegas Strip, and we are thrilled with the possibilities that it presents," SBE Entertainment CEO Sam Nazarian said in a statement late Friday.

The sale includes a 17.5-acre parcel on the north end of the Strip and the hotel-casino with 1,720 rooms. The Sahara is one of the oldest properties on the Strip. It lost its high-end clientele as upscale development on the Strip moved south.

Nazarian, who also operates a restaurant group, a nightclub operation, a hotel group, a real estate division and a Hollywood production company, did not comment on specific plans for the property.

SBE plans to manage the hotel and its food and beverage operations. The Navegante Group, owned by Nevada gaming executive Larry Woolf, will operate the casino under a lease arrangement.

Gordon Gaming has managed the Sahara since casino pioneer William Bennett bought the property in 1995 for $193 million. Bennett spent more than $100 million upgrading the resort before his death in 2003.

Will they implode it? I wonder if they also got the property across the street which I thought was bigger than 17 acres?

mdiederi · #**1627** Posted **Mar 4, 2007, 6:32 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by marlab55

Is that photo taken from the upper levels of Allure? Any news on the redesign of their second tower? A couple months ago the developer said they were going to make it "substantially taller" and add a hotel component.

mdiederi · #**1628** Posted **Mar 4, 2007, 6:56 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by VEGA$MAN

Yeah, alright, I understand, but investment value affects construction, so without any value to a development and people like us (investors in general) to make it happen, NO PROJECTS WOULD EXIST, not to mention this site!

I don't mind the investment debates either, some good tidbits of info can be gleened from them, though they can be a little long-winded sometimes.

But to imply that condo flippers built the Las Vegas Strip is stretching it a little bit. Condo towers are a very new idea on the Strip. And, condo hotel rentals will never be more than just a drop in the bucket compared to the profits generated by hotel/casinos. Take a closer look at CityCenter. The biggest building there is a hotel, and it dwarfs the condo buildings, because that's where the real money is. Selling condo units there is just an experiment to see if they can offset the initial construction cost of the overall project, and it looks like they have successfully done that. But future profits after the condo units are sold will be minimal. Strip resort developers need to be careful not to allocate to much land to condos instead of hotels because condos are only a one-time profit to the developer whereas hotels provide continuous profits into the future. For instance, Echelon will almost be as big as CityCenter and so far they have no plans for condos, they're going with boutique hotels instead. Also, guests who stay in hotel rooms play higher limits at the tables in the casinos than residents do.

Oops, guess I got a little long-winded there too.

VegasMatt · #**1629** Posted **Mar 4, 2007, 7:57 PM**

Here’ another Vegas development forum I ran across, it’s not updated as often as this one, but it’s not bad.

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showth...269861&page=29

They have a few renderings of Union Park I’ve never seen before.
I already put the link on my favorites list.

If anyone else know of any other Vegas building forums, please post them!

Thanks!

marlab55 · #**1630** Posted **Mar 4, 2007, 9:40 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by mdiederi

Will they implode it? I wonder if they also got the property across the street which I thought was bigger than 17 acres?

According to yesterday's R-J article "The Bennett family is retaining the other two parcels in the current transaction" (the 25 acres across from the Allure and the 11 acres on paradise Road).

Vegas Grows Up · #**1631** Posted **Mar 4, 2007, 9:45 PM**

I took some pictures on 3/2/07 of the Core and North Strip. If you want to see the rest I left links at bottom, too may to repost all of them

One of the things I noticed was an elevator core in the hole at Cosmo.

The Mandarin Oriental

The Stardust

Trump at floor 60....I like how the old Stardust Sign is on left

On my blog I have VEER West Tower, Alladin, Palazzo, Encore, Sky etc etc.

Core Strip Pics http://lasvegashighriseblog.com/aaro...igh-rise-boom/

North Strip Pics http://lasvegashighriseblog.com/aaro...-in-las-vegas/

sky-of-webs · #**1632** Posted **Mar 4, 2007, 9:47 PM**

Reply for Mdierera post above. Plus the land under the condo-hotel and condos is basically forever locked up and never to be redeveloped. That will probably hurt the properties in the not so distant future. The life span of a Vegas Strip prop is only about 20-25 years. Case in point the Jockey Club.

Patrick · #**1633** Posted **Mar 4, 2007, 9:54 PM**

Woah, check out Union Park. I love it.

marlab55 · #**1634** Posted **Mar 4, 2007, 10:13 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by mdiederi

Is that photo taken from the upper levels of Allure? Any news on the redesign of their second tower? A couple months ago the developer said they were going to make it "substantially taller" and add a hotel component.

That photo was taken from the balcony of the west end unit (B4 stack) on the 37th floor Feb 20.

The Allure developer has not realeased any information on the revised plans for the 2nd tower. IMO it will be very difficult if not impossible for the developer to get the second tower off the ground now. I don't think it's possible for for anybody that doesn't have very deep pockets (ie casino corporation) to get a high-rise off the ground for at least the next 4 years or so due to rising construction costs and the current tight supply of building resources. Its also going to be very hard to compete with other high end offerings like Citycenter, Palazzo condos, Trump etc. IMHO.

mdiederi · #**1635** Posted **Mar 4, 2007, 10:23 PM**

Thanks for the updates marlab55.

Nice to see that core rising at Cosmo, looks like it's almost up to the top of the hole.

Bet there will be a lot of condos at Union Park ... that is if anything is ever built there.

Gaming Today is reporting that Carl Ichan is trying to sell the Strosphere.

GT is also saying that Boyd announced construction on Echelon will officially start in July.

Patrick · #**1636** Posted **Mar 4, 2007, 10:24 PM**

I REALLY hate to see Stardust go.

Trump, looking a little short and wide eh? CityCenter continueing to blow me away. Pallazo & Wynn going up fast. Sky, looks GREAT! Allure also looks nice.

Pics from SSC

mdiederi · #**1637** Posted **Mar 5, 2007, 3:12 AM**

Just heard that the employee parking garage at Wynn, where I took those close-up photos of the north side of Encore, will be imploded Tuesday. It's only a few years old. You can see it in this photo I took yesterday.

future29 · #**1638** Posted **Mar 5, 2007, 3:41 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vegas Grows Up

One of the things I noticed was an elevator core in the hole at Cosmo.

just goes to show that that douchebag manabouttown is just talking out of his ass when it comes to cosmo. he has no clue what is going on in vegas, he just likes to spew his pointless bullshit on this site.

anyways, nice pics of Union Park. I am afraid though that all the building will be lost next to the ugly block buildings of World Market Center. when driving on the freeway, Union Park is going to be barely visible behind those WMC buildings. the city should stop Phase 5,6,7 now before its too late!

BruceH · #**1639** Posted **Mar 5, 2007, 4:45 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by mdiederi

Will they implode it? I wonder if they also got the property across the street which I thought was bigger than 17 acres?

The cleared land across the street and the land behind the Sahara are still up for sale. They were not part of the deal.

BruceH · #**1640** Posted **Mar 5, 2007, 4:49 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by marlab55

That photo was taken from the balcony of the west end unit (B4 stack) on the 37th floor Feb 20.

The Allure developer has not realeased any information on the revised plans for the 2nd tower. IMO it will be very difficult if not impossible for the developer to get the second tower off the ground now. I don't think it's possible for for anybody that doesn't have very deep pockets (ie casino corporation) to get a high-rise off the ground for at least the next 4 years or so due to rising construction costs and the current tight supply of building resources. Its also going to be very hard to compete with other high end offerings like Citycenter, Palazzo condos, Trump etc. IMHO.

Marlab55 is bang on with that analysis about Allure's second tower as we also think it will be difficult to move forward but we hope they can do it. Barrier to entry is very high now which means very limited supply of high rise condos in the prime Strip area.