An officer for a $600 million luxury condominium project that filed for bankruptcy protection said Tuesday he is confident developers will secure new financing and a new partner so the project can proceed.
Nevada Towers LLC proposes to build two 40-story towers with 1,000 units on 5.5 acres appraised at $74 million near the Las Vegas Convention Center. The Las Vegas Central project would be on Sierra Vista Drive between Paradise Road and Swenson Street.
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Attorney Marjorie Guymon filed an involuntary petition to put Nevada Towers in bankruptcy on March 14. She represents the petitioning creditors -- JAM Architects of Las Vegas, the Jerde Partnership of Venice, Calif., Cumming LLC of Las Vegas and Visual Terrain of Van Nuys, Calif.
On the following day, Nevada Towers filed a voluntary petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and the two cases have since been consolidated. Lenders were preparing to foreclose on the properties when some creditors sought bankruptcy for Nevada Towers.
Langson said he is confident the developer will emerge successfully from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which allows a business to reorganize.
"This really is an reorganization of our debt so that we can proceed forward with the project. This is not a dumping of the project." said Ryan Langson, vice president of Langson Development. "We have not been able to refinance our project to get to the point where we can proceed with construction. We're looking for a partner."
His father, Bruce Langson, manages the project.
The development group has obtained refundable reservation deposits on 30 percent of the 430 units in the first of the towers, Ryan Langson said. The units typically have 1,000 square feet and are priced at $800,000 to $1 million each, he said. The Web site for Las Vegas Central says the units will start in the $400,000 range.
Nevada State Bank holds a $17 million first trust deed loan on the property, followed by OneCap Mortgage, a private lender, with a $6 million second trust deed loan.
The Las Vegas market is strong, Ryan Langson said.
"We recognize that our financial strength has been the weak link in this," Ryan Langson said. "We know that condo sales are happening."
He and Nevada Towers attorney Stephen Harris of Reno did not have an estimate of the company's total assets and liabilities.
Salestraq, a Southern Nevada real estate research firm, counts Las Vegas Central among Las Vegas 19 high-rise condo projects with 8,874 units in the sales stage. Another 26 projects with 12,714 units are under construction.
