Cranes work Wednesday at the One Las Vegas condominium project. The project will ultimately have five towers with 960 units on the 20-acre site. Photo by Ronda Churchill

One Las Vegas is taking shape as the first high-rise luxury condominium tower on the south Strip, near Las Vegas Boulevard and Windmill Lane.

Las Vegas-based AmLand Development, which started the luxury mid-rise trend in Las Vegas with Park Avenue, is focusing on building the first two 20-story towers of 359 units.

The project will ultimately have five towers with 960 units on the 20-acre site.

Prices started at $275,000 for a one-bedroom, 830-square-foot unit when the project was announced in February 2005. Sales will be about $600 million, AmLand Executive Vice President Chet Nichols said.

Amenities at One Las Vegas include a cybercafe, tennis courts, basketball court, pet park, granite counters, Subzero refrigerators, rooftop hot tubs, health spa, pools, private cabanas, a theater room and a billiards room.

Nichols said construction costs in Las Vegas have increased more than 50 percent in the past couple of years. He's trying to keep prices at One Las Vegas at about $400 a square foot.

CONDO HOTEL: The 255-unit Platinum condo-hotel opened Wednesday at 211 E. Flamingo Road with Marcus Hotels and Resorts President Bill Otto in town for the event.

The 16-story tower was built by Residential Constructors, a division of McCarthy Building.

In addition to a restaurant, lounge and spa, amenities at Platinum include valet parking, concierge, 24-hour room service, a fitness center, an indoor-outdoor pool and a rooftop terrace.

Michael Peterson of Chicago-based Diversified Real Estate Concepts is developer of record for the Platinum. He was also planning to build Aqua Blue on Koval Lane, a $600 million condo-hotel project that was associated with former National Basketball Association superstar Michael Jordan. It was canceled in June 2005.

SENIOR LOFTS: Loft 55, an upscale assisted-living facility on Paseo Verde Parkway, has been approved by the city of Henderson. The project is being designed by Perlman Design Group and will have 88 one- and two-bedroom suites.

Loft 55 will offer three meals a day for residents, daily activities, transportation and housekeeping.

Amenities include a lounge, beauty salon, theater room, library, fitness center and a play room for visiting grandchildren.

The $15 million project is slated to break ground in October 2007. Costs to live there have not been determined, architect and developer Howard Perlman said.

LAND SALE: Xavier Wasiak of Industrial Group represented Pioneer Americas in their sale of 60 acres in Black Mountain Industrial Park in Henderson for $24 million. The land was purchased by Century Properties Henderson 18.

DESERT RESTORATION: Native Resources Nevada, a Las Vegas-based environmental restoration contractor, has completed seeding, revegetation and color mitigation services at Pardee Homes' Tiano de Tarrazzo residential community in Henderson.

NEW BUILDER: Former Centra Construction President Charlie Mitchener has formed a new company called Strata Building Group after dissolving his business relationship with Centra.

Mitchener said he expects to do the same volume of construction as he did at Centra, about 350,000 square feet and $20 million during the past two years.

He's bringing over the entire staff from Centra Construction, including Vice President Eric Smith.

The company is building an office and warehouse for Gaming Today and for Giroux Glass, remodeling corporate headquarters for Pulte-Del Webb in the master-planned Anthem community and building an office for Stewart Title.

Before joining Centra, Mitchener was vice president and general manager for Panattoni Construction and before that was project manager for Kitchell Contractors.