Nevada’s highest court today examined a law that limits how much money real estate investors can collect from troubled mortgage borrowers and their backers. Attorneys presented oral arguments before the state Supreme Court in a trio of cases dealing with Assembly Bill 273.
Las Vegas real estate investor Michael Shustek plans to bet big — $550 million big — that he can profit off some of the hardest-hit markets in the country. Through his new investment fund, MVP REIT, Shustek wants to raise up to $550 million from investors to buy commercial mortgage loans and commercial properties in Nevada, Arizona and inland California.
With Howard Hughes Corp. dusting off plans for the Shops at Summerlin, it might seem like a bit of a mystery as to how it can afford to build a massive retail complex in Las Vegas’ battered real estate market. Simply put, the company obtained the center at such a discount, it can finish the project despite the likelihood of low rents from future tenants.
The cab line on a recent afternoon at the Las Vegas Premium Outlets downtown snaked but moved quickly as tourists carrying bags of merchandise piled into cars. Hundreds of shoppers roamed the open-air center, shuttling from one store to the next, looking for bargains.
A shareholder in Service1st Bank of Nevada’s parent company has filed a class-action lawsuit against the lender and its board of directors, alleging they are selling the Las Vegas bank at an unfair price.
The economic revival sweeping downtown Las Vegas has ushered into the area restaurants, bars, entrepreneurs and residents. High-rise towers are filling up with renters and ground-floor tenants. Bars are taking over vacant buildings. New restaurant ideas are being hatched, and tech startups might soon outnumber casinos. Much of the activity is centered around Zappos, the online shoe and clothing retailer moving downtown from Henderson late next year and bringing with it hundreds of young, well-heeled employees.
After complaining that a new water-surcharge would sink them, Las Vegas business owners got some relief last month when they were promised credits for half the bill. But now, the region’s water utility chief says rates could rise yet again — and the credits businesses were promised could be reversed.
Las Vegas’ housing sector had a good month in August with more new home purchases, higher sales prices and a jump in construction permits. A total of 602 new homes were sold last month in the Las Vegas Valley.
The Shops at Summerlin, a stalled retail hub that embodies Las Vegas’ building bust, is back on track for construction with an anchor tenant. Developer Howard Hughes Corp. said Macy’s will be the first anchor at the planned retail district formerly known as the Shops at Summerlin Centre. The deal confirms the restart of the mothballed project in northwest Las Vegas, developers said.
Nevada construction regulators are taking aim at unlicensed contractors, issuing a flurry of citations as part of a multi-state crackdown. The Nevada State Contractors Board carried out a one-day “sting event” Sept. 12 targeting people who perform contracting work and advertise their services online without a license.
Despite posting one of the strongest jumps in employment, Las Vegas was the only metropolitan area in the Mountain West with declining economic output in recent months, according to a new report from the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program.
Las Vegas home values kept rising last month at a small but steady clip, outpacing many other metro areas. The Las Vegas Valley median home value rose to $120,262 in August, up 1.1 percent from July.
Howard Hughes Corp. is dropping more hints that the Shops at Summerlin Centre, the mothballed retail district in northwest Las Vegas, will be completed in coming years.
Nevada’s foreclosure rate inched higher last month, giving the state a one-notch boost in its ranking among America's worst-hit states. Nevada was fifth-worst in the country in August for its volume of distressed real estate.
Payday lenders and pawn shops may not seem like the best places to do your banking, but a rising number of Las Vegans are relying on them for personal finances.
General Growth Properties is trying to sell its local office portfolio, 32 buildings in Summerlin that total 1.1 million square feet and could fetch a sales price of up to $127 million, according to several Las Vegas brokers.
Is Las Vegas poised for a medical building boom? Based on plans floating around town, it sure looks that way. In Henderson, a new hospital tower, skilled nursing facility and massive medical and senior-living complex are planned. In northwest Las Vegas, a hospital expansion is underway and a new hospice center is on the drawing board. There’s no guarantee all of the projects will be built. To be sure, the valley has seen its share of unrealized projects, and commercial construction in general is almost nonexistent in the region. Financing is difficult, if not impossible, to obtain.
Securities regulators have shut down an alleged investment fraud in which numerous “unsophisticated investors” bought overpriced, vacant land in Nevada. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Friday it froze the assets of San Diego-based Western Financial Planning Corp. and its owner, Louis V. Schooler.
ScripNet, a fast-growing Las Vegas benefits-management company, has been bought out. Healthcare Solutions said Wednesday it reached a definitive agreement to buy the firm. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The volume of debt-laden homes being sold in foreclosure in Las Vegas continues to plunge. And foreclosures made up only 45 percent of all sales in Clark County during the same three-month period, down from 51 percent a year ago.
The names Reynolds and Lied pop up on buildings in most aspects of Las Vegas civic life. Soon enough, however, those names won’t be plastered on new buildings. The namesake foundations behind the plaques are preparing to shut down in the coming years, eliminating a key source of funding for local nonprofit groups.
The home-mortgage crisis in Las Vegas is showing few signs of abatement, as borrowers remain far underwater. About 68.5 percent of Las Vegas Valley homeowners with mortgages were underwater during the second quarter this year.
The Las Vegas Valley’s real estate sector showed some signs of life last month, with new home sales climbing and builders pulling more permits. There were 462 recorded new home sales in July, up 46 percent from 316 during the same period last year. Some 543 new home permits were also pulled last month, up 89 percent from 287 permits the year before, Home Builders Research said in a recent report.
Nasser Daneshvary, a longtime UNLV economics professor and the director of its Lied Institute for Real Estate Studies, died Saturday of an apparent heart attack. He was 62.
Stock in Western Liberty Bancorp, the parent company of Service1st Bank of Nevada, plunged for years as the bank posted spotty earnings. That changed after a rival lender decided to buy the bank at a premium in a $55 million deal announced Friday.
Las Vegas is known around the world as a place to splurge and spend big. Locals, however, don’t have the same reputation when it comes to charitable giving. Charitable donations plunged here in recent years, faster than in many other states.
In a $55 million deal, Bank of Nevada’s parent company plans to buy the holding company of Service1st Bank of Nevada. Western Alliance Bancorp. said Friday it signed a definitive agreement to purchase Western Liberty Bancorp.
The parent company of two Las Vegas Valley community banks has filed for bankruptcy protection. Capitol Bancorp Ltd., whose subsidiaries include Bank of Las Vegas and 1st Commerce Bank in North Las Vegas, said Thursday it will seek “quick approval” from the court for its pre-packaged reorganization plan.
Nevada’s foreclosure rate slackened last month, improving its spot in a national ranking but still keeping it in the top 10 for worst-hit states. The state was No. 6 in the country in July for its volume of distressed real estate.
Nevadans are falling behind on their mortgage payments at a faster rate than homeowners in almost every other state, even though local borrowers are seeing their debt shrink.
Former President Bill Clinton, whose time in office was marked by steady attacks from opposing lawmakers, was in Las Vegas to deliver a message of cooperation and patience, and to champion the benefits of green energy.
Kicking off the fifth annual National Clean Energy Summit in Las Vegas, Sen. Harry Reid this morning took aim at the state’s primary electricity provider, NV Energy.
A San Francisco Bay Area company is opening a plant in Northern Nevada to turn garbage into biofuels, and it’s using a government-backed loan to help build it. Federal officials on Monday announced a $105 million loan guarantee to Fulcrum Sierra BioFuels LLC to help finance development of the facility.
Las Vegas-based NV Energy announced Monday it is launching a joint project with California Independent System Operator Corp. to study the possibility of developing transmission facilities between their systems to share conventional and renewable energy resources.
Mitt Romney has one message for Harry Reid: “Put up or shut up.” The presumptive Republican presidential nominee was in North Las Vegas Friday morning for a campaign rally. Afterward, he was asked about the Nevada senator’s second-hand allegations that Romney did not pay taxes for 10 years. “Harry Reid really has to put up or shut up,” Romney said.
The developers of Tivoli Village plan to bring another shopping hub to the Summerlin area. EHB Cos. and IDB Group USA said they’re planning to build a 200,000-square-foot retail center at West Sahara Avenue and South Hualapai Way. It’s expected to open next year.
A Canadian property management firm has expanded its presence in the Las Vegas Valley by acquiring one of the largest commercial property management firms in the region.
A year after buying the World Market Center Las Vegas, owners of the home-furnishings showroom complex hope to boost business by shaking up its layout. Two of the center’s three buildings, along with the top floors of the third one, will be set aside for tenants looking to showcase furniture, mattresses, interior design and hospitality design, center owner International Market Centers LP announced Tuesday.
NV Energy posted a large boost in second-quarter profits on Friday, thanks largely to warm weather and a rate hike. The Las Vegas-based utility said it earned $69.4 million of net income, or 29 cents per share, for the three months ending June 30.
Paying an extra $3.76 each month may not seem like a burden. A drink at Starbucks can easily cost more. Yet for Angel DeFazio, an elderly Las Vegas woman, paying that much more for her natural-gas bill is a raw deal.
In foreclosure-wracked Nevada, residents are divided on whether it’s OK to willingly default on a mortgage loan. And many people who lost their homes during the recession say they might still buy another house.
Citigroup on Wednesday reportedly downgraded shares of Southwest Gas Corp. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral.” It could not immediately be learned why the rating was lowered, but the action comes after a corporate re-shuffling and as Southwest Gas looks to raise its natural-gas rates.