The 25-story Cielo Vista project would include 414 condominiums and a retail center. Developers are shooting for completion in 2007. Courtesy Northwest Resource Management Group.

Las Vegas continues to attract high-rise condominium developers who are stretching the boundaries of luxury living in the downtown area.

The latest is Seattle-based Northwest Resource Management Group, which plans to build a 25-story tower with 414 loft-style condominiums on 2.8 acres at East Washington Avenue and Veterans Memorial Drive.

"We are not looking to compete with the multimillion-dollar condominiums near the Strip, but rather provide affordable, luxurious homes for those that live and work in the area," said Steve Hartley, a partner of Northwest Resource Management Group.

Preliminary plans for Cielo Vista call for condos ranging from 1,000 to 2,000 square feet and priced from $295,000 to the upper $500,000s.

The first floor of the project will have 32,000 square feet of retail. Above that will be six floors of parking and 18 floors of residential units.

Northwest Resource has closed escrow on the $1.2 million land transaction and expects to begin construction late this year with completion expected by early 2007. MWT Ofra of Las Vegas is the design architect.

Hartley said he's been looking at the Las Vegas market for a long time and probably wouldn't have purchased the property three years ago.

"But the fact is the city of Las Vegas is moving very quickly, they're putting up stuff all over," he said. "We're taking some inexpensive land and let's face it, we're 10 blocks from Fremont Street. We're not in the middle of the desert. You've got the (Lied) Children's Museum, the (Sawyer) state building."

The area is known as a refuge for the homeless and has a high crime rate, but Hartley said he worked with a much worse area on the outskirts of Indio, Calif.

"This isn't the first time we tried this model," he said. "We were under contract (on the land) for four months while we were doing our feasibility study. We looked at median income in the area and it's pretty much the same demographic as Indio."

Wade Renquist of Coldwell Banker Wardley Real Estate said he hasn't heard any opposition to the location from the 25 or so people he's talked to about purchasing at Cielo Vista.

"For one thing, it's a great price for a high-rise," he said. "I saw this land and it looked like a great spot. I think the area is going to change entirely. I think it's going to be a great location with views of the eastern valley and Sunrise Mountain. You've also got downtown and the Strip."

A $5,000 refundable deposit is required for reservations, compared with $25,000 for some of the other high-rise condos under development in Las Vegas.