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Las Vegas Developer catches a second wind

It has been long, bumpy road for Lorenzo Doumani. The Las Vegas developer, who serves as CEO of Majestic Resorts, first announced plans for a new Conrad-branded condo-hotel at the northeast corner of Convention Center Drive and Las Vegas Boulevard South back in February 2004. The Conrad Majestic was originally supposed to open this year. Two and half years later, the 5.5-acre site is still vacant.

But that may soon change. Despite setbacks that include a lawsuit and a major redesign, the project is now moving ahead.

The $250 million Majestic Resort & Residences initially called for 378 hotel rooms run by Conrad Hotels, a Hilton brand, with 146 condominiums and a 100,000-square-foot retail complex. Yet the development quickly ran into a snag when the Related Cos. announced plans for a rival project next door. The $325 million, 514-unit "Icon Las Vegas" was to be a pair of 48-story, concrete-and-glass condominium towers.

Doumani filed a lawsuit against Related over obstructed views and emergency-vehicle easements. The two parties eventually settled out of court six months later, but the delay ultimately killed Related's project. "During the time it took to resolve the lawsuit, construction prices had increased so drastically that we were unable to build Icon based on its original pricing," Marty Burger, president of Related Las Vegas, at the time said.

RE-ENTER HILTON

Doumani's next obstacle came when Conrad Hotels was re-acquired by Hilton Hotels Corp. from London-based Hilton Group for $5.71 billion in late December. Meanwhile, construction costs rose 14 percent between 2004 and 2005, and housing sales softened. Shifting market conditions subsequently scuttled several high-rise projects, including: the Hard Rock Hotel's $1.4 billion, 1,420-unit Flats, Bungalows & Residences: Diversified Real Estate Concepts' 825-unit Aqua Blue; Related/Centra's $3 billion, 2,764-unit Las Ramblas; and Centex's $1 billion, 2,400-unit Urban Village, among others.

Last month, there were just 357 condo/townhome sales valleywide, 45.2 percent fewer than in 2005, reports the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors. Condo/townhome listings, however, skyrocketed to 6,261 units in October, which is 128 percent more than a year ago.

Doumani, as a result, has dramatically revamped his project plans. The 654-foot-tall tower will now have a 216-room Conrad hotel, 696 Conrad condo-hotel units and 76 Waldorf-Astoria-branded residences. There will be no casino. The condo-hotel units will range from 630 to 1,200 square feet in size, priced from $650,000 to $1.4 million.

WEEKEND AT THE WALDORF

The Waldorf-Astoria, a Hilton brand, is the famed Manhattan landmark where Cole Porter, Frank Sinatra, and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor were guests. This marks the first time that anyone will be able to purchase a Waldorf-Astoria residence.

The homes will be 2,000 to 5,000 square feet in size and occupy the tower's top 10 floors. Prices start at $2.8 million (or $1,400 per square foot) and run up to $10 million, or $2,000 per square foot. Christies Grand Estates is handling Waldorf-Astoria sales.

"At this point, I'm not worried about saturation," reported Doumani. "The condo-hotel market runs like the hotel market, as opposed to the housing market. And Las Vegas still has a 91 percent occupancy rate citywide."

Designed by Paul Steelman, the "Conrad Majestic Las Vegas" will feature a 2.5-acre, three-level pool deck, a 27,000-square-foot spa and health club, three restaurants, a nightclub, a business center and other amenities. However, the project is now estimated to cost $825 million -- 70 percent more than original budget, two and half years ago.

TIMING IS EVERYTHING

"It's perfect timing for this project to get back on track with Boyd Gaming's Echelon Place and Turnberry's Fontainebleau nearby," said Bruce Hiatt, owner of Luxury Realty Group, a Las Vegas residential-high-rise specialist. "There is still a 10 to 15 percent rise in construction costs taking place. So for every month the developer has to wait from reservation to groundbreaking, it becomes that much harder for the project to materialize."

Doumani expects to break ground in May 2006 and open by late 2009. Construction costs are estimated at over $350 per square foot. New York-based Bovis Lend Lease, the firm currently building the 428-unit Allure Las Vegas at Sahara Avenue and the Strip, has been named as general contractor.

Doumani's grandfather acquired the project site 50 years ago for $95,592 an acre. A similar property today could fetch up to $10 million per acre, almost 105 times more than initial purchase price.

"If you had to buy the dirt today and build it from scratch, you probably couldn't do it," Doumani observed. "We're in a unique situation. What Steve Wynn did for gaming, we're trying to do for non-gaming."

condoDomain.com and Centrum Properties

condoDomain.com and Centrum Properties have formed a strategic Internet marketing relationship. condoDomain.com will be positioning 10 condominium developments for Centrum Properties (3 in Chicago and 7 in Florida) on the world wide web. Centrum has garnered acclaim in the Chicago and Floridian urban marketplaces, by creating distinctive residential communities....click here to see news source.

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condoDomain forms strategic partnership with Global Condo Center

condoDomain.com LLC today announced that the Company has reached an agreement in principle to merge its new condo project information contained within its www.condoDomain.com portal with Vancouver, Canada based Global CondoCenter Corp’s portal www.globalcondocenter.com as well as provide future content of new U.S. urban condo developments to both sites utilizing Global’s proprietary data and graphics uploading software.

Global CondoCenter Corp. founder, Cliff Bowman says “it is a win/win for both the general public and developers alike. Now the public can visit either site to see the same new condo product in the United States on either site or link directly through condoDomain.com to www.globalcondocenter.com to view new urban and resort condominiums across the U.S and around the world”

Tony Longo, founder of condoDomain.com LLC noted, “We are in a changing marketplace housed in a world catered to ‘Search’ (on the Internet). Through our combined strengths and the drive to offer the latest technological advantages in the digital world, we are both dedicated to one goal. That is to provide a greater, cost-effective and transparent way to market our client’s condominium product via the Internet to the millions of homebuyers searching for condominiums today, both urban & resort, domestic and international.

By combining our services, developers receive a reduced rate for being on both sites, each of which direct visitors to a developer’s sales teams. Now U.S. developers using Global CondoCenter’s technology platform, allows them to access and edit their content and digital graphics 24/7 ensuring their information is current and accurate for the general public’s benefit.”

Bowman says, “this new arrangement allows Global CondoCenter to focus their sales efforts on attracting U.S. resort developments as well as attracting both urban and resort developments from across the world.” This past week, Global has added new projects from UAE, Nicaragua, Columbia and Dominican Republic to other offshore projects ranging from Mongolia, India, South Africa, Brazil and Panama.

condoDomain.com also offers advanced Internet marketing initiatives and other “new media” such as video marketing services for condo developments that can be seen on either portal. Another service provided by condoDomain.com is a daily concentrated electronic distribution of condo product through a series of 10 other real estate partner websites as well as “The Condo Blog,” a the 2.0 weblog highlighting the US condominium marketplace.

condoDomain.com LLC launched www.condoDomain.com in October of 2005 starting with Boston and has since grown to represent new urban condo developments and urban lifestyle trends now in 33 US cities with the goal to serve the top 200 regional condo markets in the USA. condoDomain.com operates out of 2 main offices in Boston and New York and several satellite offices in Orange County, CA & Atlanta, GA.

After two years of beta testing, Global CondoCenter Corp launched www.condocenter to the general public on July of 2006. In October the company changed the portal’s domain to www.globalcondocenter.com after Bowman’s research showed there was growing international interest and need for one single global portal for all information on all new apartments, villas and condos for sale in both resort and urban developments beyond North America.

“This global portal presents many of the “Lock and Leave Lifestyle” options desired by global baby boomers as well as others with the financial resources and currency advantages who seek new ownership and lifestyle experiences both locally and globally” Bowman stated. Global CondoCenter operates out of Vancouver, Canada and satellite offices in San Diego, Mexico City and Capetown. Additional representative offices are planned for in Europe, South America and Asia as the company expands to service its global clientele.

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Picture below taken a few weeks back in Bowman's "The Condo Center" in Vancouver, ON. Tony Longo, condoDomain.com Cheif (Center) with Cliff Bowman (left) and Scott Keller (Right) from GlobalCondoCenter.com