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0><M* Otic-» '- » • i r / r « v jE » g ;g g g »g s •h x < o$:r-*.c< §l§13|il THIS PROPERTY IS INTENDED TO BE USED FbR fA CASINO a n d a r e s o r t h o t e l . •X38 Actor George Clooney, who plans to sell his stake in a proposed hotel-condo-casino project near the Las Vegas Strip Vegas Still Booming for Biggest Developers BUSINESS ____________________________________________ ___________ LOS ANGELES TIMES ________________________________________ TUESDAY, JUNE 6, 2006 C ll Ethan Miller Getty Images FO L D E D : An October photo shows the site of projects that included the $3-billion Las Ramblas complex, whose backers, including actor George Clooney, have pulled out* [Vegasf from Page Cl] ness partner, Rande Gerber. Clooney originally pitched ' the project in August as a resort "with a classic, tuxedo-and-mar-tini feel. On Monday, Clooney said that he was disappointed by the sale. “I’ll donate my profits from the sale to the African Debt Re­lief Project,” Clooney said in a statement. “And I guess I’ll find ‘/Someplace else to gamble.” / Related sold the Las Ram- /blas project to Edge Group for $202 million, still more than dou­ble the $90 million it paid less than two years ago. Edge is de­veloping the adjacent W Las Vegas condo-hotel project for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. / The Related-Clooney project becomes the eighth high-rise condo project to be shelved or /put on hold in the last year. / Only about half of the 31,000 Condo units under construction or planned in the so-called resort corridor that includes the Strip are expected to be completed, ;said Brian Gordon of Applied Analysis, an independent Las ' Vegas real estate market re­search firm. H “There is a shortage of quali­fied developers with the financial wherewithal to pull these projects off,” Gordon said. Also, he said, “a significant number of sites may not have the resources tb bring some of the projects to Vnition.” Demand is there for expen­sive condos, contended Edge Group President Adam Frank. : “feut the projects have to be thought through because of the costs of building,” he said. “We can afford to spend more tp build a casino-resort because jwe can generate cash indefinitely ihto the future,” Frank said. In many ways, Frank is part df the reason the Vegas condo m arket is showing stamina. He , was among the thousands who /thronged to the region because of a booming real estate market. After commuting from Los An­geles for six years, Frank last y year purchased his own condo unit in a high-rise overlooking the Strip. About 50 projects are planned for the resort corridor within one mile of the Strip, ac­cording to Applied Analysis. Brand is a key selling point. “The more well known you are, the better,” said Bruce Hiatt, a condo broker who owns Vegas-based Luxury Realty Group. “People are more selective to­day.” That has propelled compa­nies such as Starwood, which is new to the Vegas hotel market, as well as existing resorts. MGM Mirage Inc. is finishing up a three-tower, 1,500-unit luxu­ry condo project on the site of its former amusement park behind the MGM Grand. More than 1,000 units have been sold. MGM also is developing Project City- Center, which will include more than 2,500 condo or condo-hotel units in addition to a boutique hotel and retail center. The Palms is building a 600- unit condo-hotel tower behind its casino-hotel. Other high-rises not associ­ated with hotel brands have re­ported robust sales, particularly those that entered the market before 2005 in the early stages of the Vegas high-rise boom. Panorama Towers, a three-tower, 1,000-unit project over­looking the Strip, has sold 90% of its units, some for as high as $12 million. Panorama Towers developer Laurence Hallier credited its success to two factors. “First, we were early to the market at a time when there were few high-rise projects,” he said. “The other major factor for us is our view. A view of the Strip is like having an ocean or Central Parkview.” Even away from the Strip, luxury condos are in demand. Consider Queensridge, which bills itself as the first vertical custom home community in sub­urban Las Vegas. Backers of the four-tower, 18-story complex say that almost half the units — which start at $1.6 million and climb to $20 million —? have been sold, mostly to people who al­ready live in the area. “Custom homeowners are tired of yard and house mainte­nance,” said broker Hiatt. “They have money and they want to live in a nice residence with lots of amenities.” Nonetheless, like most other once-scorching housing mar­kets, Las Vegas is cooling off, particularly for new homes in­cluding condos, townhomes and LAS VEGAS — Maxim, the racy men’s magazine, plans to lend its name to a more than $1.2-billion hotel casino that would open in 2010 on the Las Vegas Strip, the publisher said Monday. “It’s going to be upscale, it’s going to be four-star, it’s going to be sexy and flirtatious, abso­lutely,” said Barry Pincus, direc­tor of brand development for Maxim publisher Dennis Pub­lishing Inc. “But it’ll also be fun, single-family residences. Year to date, sales were down 31% in Clark County, and the cancella­tion rate rose 25% from the same period a year earlier, according to industry research firm Hanley Wood Market Intelligence. But one bright spot appears to be the Strip. During the first it’ll be comfortable.” Maxim plans to partner with Los Angeles- and Las Vegas-based real estate developer Con­cord Wilshire Partners to build the 2,300-room resort with a 60,000-square foot casino on nine acres just north of the Circus Circus casino hotel. Construc­tion is expected to begin in late 2007.A management company would be hired to run the casino and hotel, Pincus said. Maxim would gain licensing fees from quarter, the median price of homes in the ZIP Code that en­compasses the Strip nearly doubled, to $363,000, while sales jumped 136%, according to real estate research firm DataQuick Information Systems. The Associated Press was used in compiling this report. the operation, which would also include a 3,000-seat concert venue as well as a pool, spa, retail stores, restaurants and a Rande Gerber-operated nightclub called Maxim Lounge. About 2,000 of the rooms are expected to be condominium units that can be rented as hotel rooms when the owners are not there, Pincus said. Maxim, which is published in 45 countries, has a U.S. audience of 13.7 million readers with an av­erage age of 28. Maxim Plans ‘Flirtatious’ Vegas Hotel From the Associated Press