A worker welds on a cabana Tuesday at Turnberry Towers. An official says about a dozen units are left for sale in the first building at the condo project under construction at Karen Avenue and Joe W. Brown Drive. Photo by Jeff Scheid.

John Riordan doesn't like to use the term "bottom out," so he's saying the high-rise luxury condo market in Las Vegas is turning around.

It was only a year and a half ago when Riordan, vice president of sales for Turnberry Towers, talked about a slowdown in demand following the "condo craze" in which some 100 towers and 90,000 units were announced.

Now he has perhaps a dozen units left for sale in the first 45-story, 318-unit building at Turnberry Towers, a $500 million condominium project under construction on 10 acres at Karen Avenue and Joe W. Brown Drive. Aventura, Fla.-based Turnberry Associates is the developer and general contractor.

The tower is scheduled to receive its certificate of occupancy in early June, Riordan said. A second tower on the property's west side is built to the 34th floor and has about 125 units remaining for sale, priced from $550,000 for a one-bedroom unit. About 800 construction workers are on site each day.

Riordan said the buyer demographics at Turnberry Towers are similar to those at Turnberry Place, the four-tower, 780-unit condo community that Turnberry built on Paradise Road. They're mostly from Southern California and second-home buyers.

"It's a much younger buyer," he said. "The market's much broader. When we first started, the average age was early 60s. Now I'd say the average age is mid-40s. Obviously, when you have a lower age, you've got more people, a lot of baby boomers."

Not only has the market turned back up, but buyers are more serious and qualified and they're here to buy, Riordan said.

"Our typical buyer is an entrepreneurial person who typically tends to be ahead of the market as far as understanding real estate and getting ahead of the curve," he said.

A major difference between Turnberry Place and Turnberry Towers is the size of the units, which average 1,250 square feet in the new project compared with 3,000 feet at Turnberry Place. People wanted smaller units, Riordan said.

Condos are delivered as "gray shell," a basic unit with concrete floor and white walls.

"That was a bit of a hurdle when we first came to Vegas," Riordan said. "People were used to a single-family home that was almost turnkey. As they learned the market, they got accustomed to it."

People who buy these units, which averaged $1.6 million in resales at Turnberry Place last year, are extremely affluent and want to have things done their way, Riordan said. They'll hire their own interior decorators.

"We learned. We tried everything over 40 years. We put in marble floors and they come in and tear it up," Riordan said.

Each tower will have a 2,500-square-foot fitness center and resort-style pool with waterfall and sandy beaches, something not normally found at other residential towers in town, he said.

"Our problem now is finding additional property," Riordan said. "We're finished here. Where do we go next? We're looking to find other land to build our residential product."

With Turnberry Place, Turnberry Towers and the Residences at MGM Grand, Turnberry has built and sold 3,000 condo units in Las Vegas totaling more than $2 billion in eight years, Riordan said.

LAWYER OFFICE: Las Vegas attorney Jerry Kaufman closed escrow on a 12,000-square-foot office building at St. Louis and Eastern avenues for $2 million and intends to make about $500,000 in architectural improvements, including adding four offices.

The building, on two-thirds acre, is constructed of stucco with a marble fascia. Sellers were Charles Miles, James Pico and Bert Mitchell.

Pico, Escobar and Rosenberger law firm will remain as anchor tenants of 17 executive offices and 13 staff offices.

RETAIL PROJECTS: NewMarket is developing two new retail projects in Las Vegas. Simac Construction is expected to complete the $1.9 million building at Eastern Avenue and Bonanza Road in March. It will be occupied by Starbucks and Wireless Toyz.

The second project is a Lowe's Home Improvement Center that will anchor the 40-acre Nellis Pointe project at Nellis Boulevard and Carey Avenue. EMJ Corp. will complete the $40 million Lowe's building in the spring 2007.