Turnberry Associates confirmed Wednesday that it acquired the Strip parcel that was the planned site for the Krystle Sands condominiums. Photo by K.M. Cannon. The sales office for the Krystle Sands high-rise condominiums on the old Algiers property stands closed Wednesday. Triforp Development Corp. had planned the project, but sold the land. Photo by K.M. Cannon.

Florida-based Turnberry Associates confirmed Wednesday that it has tied up a 3.6-acre parcel of land on the Strip, the former site of the Algiers motel that was planned for the $400 million Krystle Sands high-rise condominium development.

Turnberry principal Jeffrey Soffer said he's entered escrow to purchase the property for an undisclosed price. He said it would complete Turnberry's assemblage of 25 acres on the Strip. Turnberry paid $45 million for the adjacent 21-acre El Rancho site in May 2000.

A land broker for a major brokerage firm in Las Vegas said he had some investors interested in acquiring the land when he learned Krystle Sands wasn't going to happen and was told they would have to be "north of $85 million" to beat Turnberry's offer.

A group called Krystle Sands LLC headed by developer Freddie Schinz of Florida bought the Algiers site for $26.2 million in July.

"I own the land right next door," Soffer said. "I want to do something on all 25 acres. It'll be a major project."

Turnberry discussed plans for a hotel-casino development when El Rancho, one of the Strip's first casinos in the 1940s, was demolished.

Schinz, president of Triforp Development Corp., said he sold Krystle Sands to Turnberry but is under a strict confidentiality agreement not to discuss the deal. He said he's "absolutely" still interested in doing a condominium or retail project in Las Vegas, though nothing is in the works.

Soffer said he's been reading about all of the high-rise projects proposed in Las Vegas.

"Some are going to make it, but a lot of them are ill-conceived," he said. "People don't realize how much it costs to build them. They sold it (condo units) too cheap. People are running here because they saw Turnberry's success."

Turnberry is building the fourth 38-story tower at Turnberry Place on Paradise Road and is developing the Residences at MGM Grand in a joint venture with MGM Mirage. It also formed a joint venture with Las Vegas-based Centra Properties for the 100-acre Town Square mixed-used development at the former site of Vacation Village on the south Strip.

Krystle Sands was announced last year as a 44-story hotel-condominium with 588 units starting at about $400,000. Construction was originally scheduled to start this past October.

There are several projects now that appear to have possible interest in "repositioning" themselves in the marketplace, CB Richard Ellis broker Rod Tucker said.

"One of the biggest driving forces is the dramatic increase in land values since their initial acquisition," he said. "An additional driving force is increased cost of construction, everything from materials to labor. Investment bankers in New York are somewhat (reluctant) to do business with an unknown entity, somebody they don't know, and they're looking at Vegas waiting for the bubble to burst."

Jeff Chain, a ReMax Benchmark Realty broker who was handling sales for Krystle Sands, said his client advised him on March 4 to suspend further sales of the condo-hotel project. On Tuesday, he was informed that "an agreement has been made with Turnberry," and that details would be forthcoming in the next couple of weeks.

"Please rest assured all contract deposits are secured in an account with Fidelity National Title," Chain wrote in a letter to buyers and other interested parties. "We will provide further information once the facts become known."

Soffer said people will get their money back plus interest, "whatever was in their contract."