Many neighbors excited at prospect of Wynns’ move

Steve and Elaine Wynn are moving to a venerable Las Vegas neighborhood where they have bought up 13 acres.

Since June, LG 2007 Private Trust has bought out five owners of land near Alta and Campbell drives for nearly $20 million, according to public land records.

Wynn plans to tear down the existing homes, according to a published report.

Many residents are excited about the prospect of Wynn moving in -- as well as the hope that the prices he paid for the land will increase their home values.

But the casino executive's future neighbors also wondered if he was planning a family estate that would blend into the area, or an insulated compound.

"He has great ideas for everything he does," said Mordechai Yerushalmi, who would be Wynn's neighbor to the east on Alta Drive. "I just hope he doesn't do anything out of step with the rest of the neighborhood. We don't want the rest of the homes looking at the outside of jail walls."

Yerushalmi, founder of The Jewelers, Inc., said he was approached about selling his house by a real estate agent who had brokered the other deals, but he declined because the price wasn't right.

There are no records on file on LG 2007 with the secretary of state's office, and the attorney listed as its resident agent, Gregory Morris, declined to comment.

City Councilwoman Lois Tarkanian said residents in the neighborhood have contacted her to express concerns.

"This is an area where they don't want to change the ambience of the neighborhood," she said.

Gwen Scaggiari and her husband declined to sell, and now their home is surrounded on three sides by Wynn property.

"I'm worried that my decision to stay, because I didn't like the offer, is going to make my house look like an albatross," she said. "I like my house, and I couldn't find anything comparable" for what was offered.

On her nearly acre lot there are hawks, eagles, quails, ducks, roadrunners and rabbits.

For weeks, residents had whispered rumors that Steve and Elaine Wynn were the buyers of eight homes.

Last week, Wynn spokeswoman Jennifer Dunne went so far as to deny it.

"It's a false rumor for sure. This rumor is absolutely false," she said.

On Friday, Steve Wynn confirmed that he and his wife planned to build a new home in the area, according to an article in In Business Las Vegas.

Wynn and Dunne did not return calls from the Review-Journal on Friday. But neighbors and Tarkanian said this week that they were certain Wynn had bought the homes.

The neighborhood is thick with old trees and a patchwork of homes, some newer, others still standing from the 1960s.

Jennifer Anderson, who lives nearby, said she moved to the neighborhood from Summerlin because "we didn't want to live in cookie-cutter houses." She also said she likes being centrally located.

Already this week there was a security guard in one of the driveways. He would take a slow spin in his SUV around the block. Otherwise, he eyeballed a reporter and a photographer.

The Wynns currently live on site at the Wynn Las Vegas resort.

The largest parcel of their newly acquired property was part of a $13 million sale in July. The land is known in the neighborhood as the Peterson Compound; its former owners could not be reached for comment.

Four homes on lots mostly under one acre sold for $1.1 million to $2 million in June and July.

Menashe Gamliel sold the house at the corner of Alta and Campbell for $1.1 million. He bought the house as an investment in 2004 for $465,000, according to property records.

"I didn't know who it was at the time," Gamliel said of the buyer.

Any new home or tall fences at the property are likely to require City Council approval.

The Tarkanian and Wynn families were at odds when Elaine Wynn pushed for Tarkanian's husband, Jerry, to be fired as the University of Nevada, Las Vegas' men's basketball coach.

"A long time ago, certainly there was," Tarkanian said when asked whether there was tension between the two families.

She noted, though, that Elaine Wynn approached her at the recent opening of the Springs Preserve. "Very cordially, she said 'hi.' She introduced me to her daughter."