A high-rise luxury condominium project proposed on the site of the former Algiers motel appears to be "dead in the water," a local real estate industry source said Tuesday.

Krystle Sands, a planned 45-story, 568-unit condominium hotel, is no longer offering units for sale and no forwarding number was given, said a Realtor who asked not to be identified.

And many real estate experts believe it could be just the first of many of the 100 or so announced high-rise local projects to fail.

SalesTraq President Larry Murphy said last year that someone would be left "holding the bag" on some of the proposed high-rise projects.

"Of course, they never even broke ground, but they did purchase the land," Murphy said of Krystle Sands. "I know they have not been able to produce floor plans for me."

The project received zoning approval from the Clark County Commission in April 2004 for a 510-foot tower. JMA Architects was designing the tower at the Strip and Riviera Boulevard. Perini Building had been named as the general contractor.

The 3.6-acre site is reportedly being purchased by Turnberry Associates, the Florida-based developer of Turnberry Place on Paradise Road. Turnberry previously purchased the 21-acre site of the former El Rancho, which is contiguous to the Krystle Sands property.

Clark County records show that Krystle Sands LLC paid $26.2 million for the property, which is zoned for commercial motel use, in July. Turnberry is reportedly paying $29 million.

John Riordan, vice president of sales for Turnberry, said "it's possible" that Turnberry is buying the land, but "nothing is final."

He said Turnberry would like to acquire the land because of its importance to a hotel-casino Turnberry is planning for the El Rancho site.

But the Realtor said the deal was nearly completed.

"It's in escrow. It's a done deal," said the Realtor who exclusively sells high-rise condos. "As a result of that, No. 1, myself and other Realtors won't represent high-rise developers because of the uncertainties. I'm losing about $300,000 in commission. My six or eight months of time and effort nurturing my clients to buy into this property are gone.

"No. 2, this is going to have severe repercussions on all of these projects because the word is going to get around the country ... another con job in Vegas."

Victor Altomare, the Australian developer of Liberty Tower and Summit Tower in Las Vegas, said he expects more projects to drop out of the market because of rising construction costs. Developers who have acquired land and have all of the entitlements in place for high-rise condos will sell and take their profits, he said.

Several developers have already had to go back to their owners and raise prices, said Bruce Hiatt, broker and owner of Luxury Realty Group in Las Vegas.

"What I find interesting is where the cost per square foot is going," he said. "It looks like we're moving to $800 or $850 a square foot. I talked to the developers of Sky Las Vegas about the land it sits on (next to Circus Circus) and it's tripled. We don't know price per square foot, but I can tell you the land has tripled."

Krystle Sands was offering four models, priced from $500,000 to more than $800,000, with penthouse units at $1 million and up.

Las Vegas can expect some turbulence in the condominium market, mirroring what has happened in Toronto, said a broker who's familiar with both markets.

"Although Toronto's condo market is likely to come down from the stratosphere over the next few years, the correction should be relatively mild and short-lived, and represent a brief departure from an otherwise bright longer-term path," TD Bank Financial Group senior economist Derek Burleton wrote in an October 2004 report.

During the 1980s housing expansion, condo starts in Toronto skyrocketed from "humble beginnings" to more than 13,000 units in 1989, the report said. It tailed off to less than 4,000 from 1991 to 1993, and then climbed again to 14,000 units in 2001 and 2003.

"What followed during the 1990-93 period was a particularly painful experience for condo owners in Toronto. With sales barely registering on the radar screen during that four-year period, average resale prices of Toronto condominiums tumbled from $200,000 to $132,000 (Canadian), or roughly one-third," Burleton said.