Las Vegas house prices are rising Southern Nevada prices were up 12.8 percent year-over-year in October. Nationally, home prices were up 5.5 percent year-over-year . Buyers are pulling back. Around 7,000 Las Vegas houses were on the market without offers at the end of November, up 54 percent year-over-year. Las Vegas home prices have been rising at one of the fastest rates in the country
On Rainbow Boulevard at Cheyenne Avenue, a strip mall and the apartment complex next door reflect the state of things in commercial real estate. The strip mall, Cheyenne Commons, was foreclosed on last year and has plenty of tenants but also several vacancies. The neighboring apartment complex, The Grove, has soared in value. It sold for $34.5 million in November, after trading for $19.5 million just two years ago.
Under CEO John Helderman, Goodwill of Southern Nevada has expanded its services including the new home of Goodwill’s Veteran Integration Program. Free job services are paid for by revenues generated by Goodwill’s retail stores. In 2017, the sale of donated goods allowed Goodwill of Southern Nevada to train more than 17,000 job seekers. More than 2,500 of those found local jobs. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Land around the Las Vegas stadium site has been selling for high prices. A few months before the stadium’s groundbreaking, Global Trust Group acquired a 2.5-acre parcel just north of the stadium site. The property sold for $7.25 million, or $2.9 million an acre. Osprey Real Estate Capital and Huntington Hotel Group acquired a 2-acre industrial site just west of the stadium site in late November. The property sold for $6.5 million, or $3.15 million per acre. That’s roughly 12 times the average price of land in the valley this year as tracked by Colliers International.
MGM Resorts International signed a sports betting sponsorship agreement with the NBA in July It was the first professional sports league to have official ties with a legal sports betting house. The deal came just two months after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a law prohibiting sports betting in most states. In October, MGM became the first gaming company to sign a sports betting partnership with the NHL. In November, MGM became the first gaming company to sign a sports betting partnership with the MLB. Financial terms of Tuesday’s deal and earlier partnerships have not been announced.
The Krausz Cos. and WG Group bought a strip mall and an office park in Las Vegas for nearly $80 million total. They acquired a portion of Tropicana Beltway Center in the southwest valley for $59 million. They also acquired the Westbay office complex in the Las Vegas Medical District. The buyers are former owners of The Gramercy, a once-mothballed mixed-use project in the Las Vegas suburbs. They sold The Gramercy in phases for more than $100 million.
Caesars Entertainment Corp. CEO Mark Frissora will leave the casino company in February. Frissora has been CEO since July 2015. He was named CEO right after Caesars’ operating company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Caesars Entertainment emerged from bankruptcy protection in October 2017 Before Caesars, Frissora spent seven years as chairman and CEO of Naples, Fla.,-based Hertz He led the consolidation of the rental-car industry through Hertz‘s acquisition of the Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group.
Planet 13, which bills itself as one of the largest dispensaries in the world, opened to the public Thursday. The dispensary is located near the intersection of Desert Inn Road and Sammy Davis Jr. Drive, near Trump International, in Las Vegas. Planet 13 has plans in the future for a coffee shop, a tasting room for marijuana-infused beer and wine, a lounge for consuming marijuana on site if that is legalized and space for food.
Zach Miles, associate vice president for economic development for UNLV, said there’s venture money in Southern Nevada, “but trying to find the right groups to tap into for that money is different.” According to a 2017 report from the Kauffman Foundation, Las Vegas ranked number 34 out of 40 metropolitan areas for growth entrepreneurship, a metric of how much startups grow. With a lack of growing startups in Las Vegas, investment money is being sent outside of state borders. The southwest region of the U.S. received $386 million in funding in the second quarter, with about $25.2 million in Nevada. The San Francisco area alone received about $5.6 billion. (source: CB Insights)
Israeli hoteliers Asher Gabay and Benny Zerah bought Motel 8 on the south Strip for $7.4 million, records show. They plan to bulldoze the property and build a hotel-casino. Motel 8 was built in the 1960s and used to be one of several roadside inns on what’s now the south Strip. But it looks out of place today, dwarfed by the towering Mandalay Bay right across the street.
Trump Slams Amazon for Not Paying Enough in Taxes Trump tweeted his concerns about the company on Thursday. This isn’t the first time Trump commented on the issues via Twitter. August 2017 December 2017 Amazon did hold back on paying state taxes in 1995, but the company has been routinely collecting state sales taxes since then. In 2016, the company’s report from the Securities and Exchange Commission confirmed it paid $412 million in taxes.
Adidas Signs New York Yankees Star Aaron Judge The slugger is set to
don a new set of stripes this
season after signing with
the apparel company. Aaron Judge Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The deal includes branding on his batting gloves and wristbands. Judge, the AL’s reigning Rookie of the Year, was previously under contract with Under Armour since 2014. Judge won the American League Rookie of the Year award last season after setting an MLB record for most homers in a rookie season (52).
Bettor Investments formerly operated a Nevada-licensed entity betting operation. The company promised “conservative growth, profits and stability for our investors.” Matt Stuart, who ran the fund, shut it down in late 2016 and never made good on an agreement with shareholders.
Starbucks Will Give You $10 Million for a Better Cup Design Get your thinking caps on because the company is looking for a new cup that’s easier to recycle. The $10 million grant challenge sees Starbucks partnering with investor group Closed Loop Partners for the project. According to CNN Money, Aside from the new cup design challenge, Starbucks stated it will test a cup with an inner lining made from plant fibers to prevent hot liquid from leaking. Will you join the challenge for #Bettercups?
People who thought they had won in Station Casinos’ “bad beat jackpot” poker promotion were unhappy. They waited months to get paid. And now the bad-beat jackpot is gone.
Amazon Offering Discounted Prime Memberships to Medicaid Recipients Individuals with a valid Medicaid or Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card The $5.99 membership can be renewed every year for up to four years. The reduced Prime membership comes with the same benefits of a standard one, including free two-day shipping, Prime Video, Prime Music and Prime Now. Last year, Amazon also joined a USDA pilot program that allows those receiving government assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to buy groceries through online markets like Amazon’s FreshDirect or Walmart.
Dick’s Sporting Goods Ends Sale of Assault Weapons Florida
School Shooting The retailer announced the move in an open letter and an appearance by CEO Ed Stack on ‘Good Morning America.’ Ed Stack, (Good Morning America) Ed Stack, (Good Morning America) Dick’s is also ending the sale of high-capacity magazines and sales of guns to people under 21 years old. The company ended the sale of assault weapons at Dick’s-branded stores after the Newtown, Conn. school shooting
in 2012. However, they were still selling them at its 35 Field & Stream locations. Nikolas Cruz, 17, shot and killed 17 students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida on Feb. 14.
Five people with experience in business and government spoke Friday to the Urban Chamber of Commerce in Las Vegas Among their advice: line up potential clients before starting a business, attend networking events and seek advice from experts in the industry The chamber, founded in 1980, has hundreds of members and focuses on the welfare of black-owned businesses in Las Vegas
McDonald’s Planning Big Change for Happy Meals The restaurant chain has made a pledge to make one of their signature meals healthier by 2022. Happy Meal choices will be hamburgers and four- and six-piece Chicken McNuggets. However, parents will still be able to ask for cheeseburgers. Here are a few more
key notes: • Bottled water will be added
• Chocolate milk will contain less sugar
• More fruits, vegetables and grains
will be served French fry sizes will also be smaller. McDonald’s restaurants in the U.S. will serve Happy Meals containing 600 calories or less by June. Ernest Baskin, professor of food marketing at St. Joseph’s University (Money)
Earlier this month, Buy Legal Meds opened its first brick-and-mortar location The store sells products with cannabidiol, or CBD, a marijuana compound that doesn’t get users high Buyers and sellers get into CBD for the fewer regulations
CBD, along with low-dose edible marijuana products, has a chance at turning more people into casual users
Steve Wynn, the founder of Wynn Resorts, has stepped down as CEO and chairman amid investigations of sexual impropriety. Wynn has released a statement saying “In the last couple of weeks, I have found myself the focus of an avalanche of negative publicity.” “Therefore, effective immediately, I have decided to step down as CEO and Chairman of the Board of Wynn Resorts, a company I founded and that I love.” Wynn resorts also released a statement reading “Wynn Resorts remains as committed as ever to upholding the highest standards and being an inclusive and supportive employer.”
U.S. businesses continued to hire at a healthy pace in January. Payroll processor ADP said Wednesday that companies added 234,000 jobs. Job gains at that pace are easily enough to drive down an already-low unemployment rate. Companies have been steadily adding jobs for the past eight years. On Friday, the government’s employment report for January will likely show a gain of 175,000 jobs.
Las Vegas mogul Steve Wynn has been accused of sexual misconduct by dozens of people, according to the Wall Street Journal. Wynn is accused of pressuring employees to perform sex acts, the report said. “The idea that I ever assaulted any woman is preposterous” Steve Wynn’s statement to the WSJ The newspaper reported “a decades-long pattern of sexual misconduct.” The report included details of a $7.5 million settlement paid to a manicurist who complained about Wynn’s behavior.
The Culinary union will ask Las Vegas casinos and hotels to supply guest room attendants with panic buttons amid national attention to the issue of workplace sexual harassment. The proposal is part of the union’s demands as it readies for talks for 50,000 of its 57,000 employees on a five-year contract with casinos next month, said Bethany Khan, a spokeswoman for Culinary Local 226. Panic buttons would allow guest room attendants to notify security if they are in an uncomfortable or threatening situation. The union will be renegotiating contracts with Caesars, MGM Resorts International and several downtown casinos starting in mid February.
Wynn Resorts Ltd.’s new Paradise Park will be powered entirely by renewable energy using a dedicated 160-acre solar array built 375 miles away near Fallon that is capable of producing up to 20 megawatts of electricity. According to Wynn officials, no other Las Vegas resort is powered by a larger percentage of green energy. The solar array is slated to go online within the next few months and will deliver enough renewable energy to power 5,056 homes and eliminate 33,734 metric tons of CO2 emissions from the environment annually.
Walmart Boosts Minimum Wage to $11,
Gives Out Bonuses to Employees Walmart gave credit to President Trump’s
tax cut for enabling the move. Doug McMillan, Walmart CEO Doug McMillan, Walmart CEO The big-box store chain hit the jackpot, with the corporate tax cut coming all the way down to 21 percent from 35 percent. Walmart will also pay a one-time cash bonus to eligible employees of as much as $1,000. Bonuses will be determined by the length of an employee’s tenure with the store. The wage increase will go into effect as soon as February and add about $300 million in costs to what Walmart was already planning for the upcoming fiscal year.
Over 100 companies giving ‘Trump Bonuses’ after the federal tax overhaul, according to the Washington Examiner South Point became the first Nevada gaming company to join that list Thursday The casino will dole out more than $1 million in bonuses for 2017 to its employees, doubling the amount of bonuses for 2016 In a letter to employees Dec. 21, chairman and CEO of WynnResorts Ltd. Steve Wynn praised the tax cuts, but did not promise any bonuses or raises at the time.
The demographics of Southern Nevada are growing increasingly young, diverse and wealthy. “The diversification of the types of companies in Las Vegas has created a larger workforce pool,” said Jason Bruckman, vice president of workforce recruitment in Las Vegas for national staffing company Eastridge Workforce Solutions. “I’ve seen the demographic trend skew to a younger workforce.” The transplants making Las Vegas their home today are also younger and bringing in higher median household incomes. “Two early causes for the higher wage appear to be higher wages in the geographies of origin and the fact that we are attracting a workers to fill higher wage positions,” Aguero said.
