Las Vegas real estate auction brings $340 million

Some $340 million in bank-owned commercial real estate properties and delinquent loans were sold during a recent three-day auction in Las Vegas, the company that presented the auction reported Friday.

Eighty-four percent of the advertised $1 billion in listings sold, including nine of the 10 bank-owned properties and 50 of the 60 nonperforming notes, Irvine, Calif.-based Auction.com reported.

The online auction May 17-19 featured many high-balance commercial loans that were offered individually and traded at significant prices, particularly multifamily notes.

Investor interest in commercial properties in Las Vegas is extraordinarily high, Auction.com chief executive officer Jeff Frieden said.

"The timing and size of this unique offering meshed well with current market and investor dynamics," he said in a statement.

Auction.com reported 15 of 16 office assets sold; 19 of 25 retail assets sold; all nine multifamily assets sold; 9 of 12 industrial assets sold; and all six mixed-use assets sold.

Commercial broker Dan Doherty of Colliers International in Las Vegas broke prices down by category and found industrial properties sold for an average of $51.87 a square-foot; office for $78.47 a foot; retail for $90.47 a foot; multifamily for $58,390 a unit; and land for $276,968 an acre. In comparison, sales of industrial properties over the last year in Las Vegas averaged $92 a foot; office $100 a foot; retail $88 a foot; and multifamily $73,000 a unit, Colliers reported.

"Was the auction successful? Well, that depends on what you wanted to get out of it," Colliers research manager John Stater said. "Are the buyers going to be pleased with their purchases a few months from now? We don't know. Are the buyers going to feel regret? We don't know.

"If anything good did come out of this auction, it's that a property sale in Nevada attracted a fair amount of attention. Had the auction been a complete flop, it would have made convincing people to invest in Nevada that much more difficult."

More than 5,400 confidentiality agreements were signed to access the due diligence materials and the auction assets had in excess of 130,000 visitors, Auction.com reported. Auction assets garnered 1,136 registered bidders with confirmed proof of funds, and more than 1,200 bids were made over the three days.

Auction.com plans to have auctions in Arizona, Texas, Florida and California in coming months.

Contact reporter Hubble Smith at hsmith@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0491.