Verge condominium project will get makeover

The 318-unit Verge mid-rise condominium project planned at Main Street and Bonanza Road in downtown Las Vegas is being redesigned to add 52 units, developer Gerald Schaffer said.

The $135 million project is 80 percent sold and going forward, Schaffer said. Staff contacted all of Verge's buyers and none asked for refunds on their deposits, he said.

Verge's sales center was moved from Boyd Gaming Corp.'s property on the southeast corner across Bonanza Road to the 2.7-acre site, saving $13,000 in monthly rent. But it has yet to reopen.

The phone line works, but Schaffer said he's stopped selling the remaining units, having met the bank's 50 percent sales requirement for financing.

Utility issues with Nevada Power Co., Cox Communications and Embarq Corp. have delayed construction, he said.

"You have three separate entities that require plans to be submitted," Schaffer said. "The power company says, 'What about the telephone company?' NDOT (Nevada Department of Transportation) has its rights of way. The negotiations of what we can and cannot do and the delays ... each one of these things has to be fundamentally approved by the city before we pull the permits."

Schaffer said it's costing $2 million to redesign the project. The architect is taking out some of the higher-end units and replacing them with more affordable product.

"There were designs in there that really don't fit and it makes no sense to have it that way," he said.

The redesign will take about three months, Schaffer said.

He's negotiating with general contractor Ledcor to begin construction possibly by December.

NOT ALONE: How are markets outside Las Vegas doing in the current housing malaise?

Not so good, said Dennis Smith, president of Las Vegas-based Home Builders Research.

His sister company in Phoenix, Home Builders Marketing, reported 1,845 new-home sales in May, bringing the year-to-date total to 9,228.

That's down 43.9 percent from a year ago.

Resales are down nearly 30 percent at 20,882 through May and new-home permits fell nearly 60 percent to 6,970.

"When we compare the housing statistics from Las Vegas to a growing metropolis like Phoenix, they don't appear to be too bad," Smith said. "Does anyone doubt that Phoenix will turn it around? Of course not. So hang in there. Better days are ahead for Las Vegas."

MORTGAGE OFFICE: Las Vegas-based SR Construction has completed a two-story, 21,000-square-foot corporate office for First United Mortgage at Durango Drive and the southern Beltway. The $4 million project required concrete tilt-up, tenant improvements and site work. Dekker Perich Sabatini was the architect.

SR also finished construction of the LV-5 Test Cell project for Varian Medical Systems at 6811 Spencer St.

The $12 million project consists of four concrete test cell vaults, production area and administrative offices.

APARTMENT SALE: Bentley Group brokerage firm recently negotiated the sale of the 304-unit Pyramid Apartments at 7055 E. Lake Mead Blvd. in North Las Vegas for $30.3 million, or $99,507 a unit. Heritage Associates, a San Francisco-based investment company, bought the apartment complex from National Commercial Ventures of Los Angeles.

BROKER DEALS: KeyState Corporate Management signed a 60-month lease for 12,490 square feet of office space at 101 Convention Center Drive. Jason Simon of Gatski Commercial represented the building's owner, BGK Group, in the $1.3 million transaction.

Jim Marsh of Colliers International represented both the landlord, GSG Alexander, and the tenant, Friends of Steven Horsford, in the six-month lease of 1,695 square feet of retail space at The Park at Northpointe, 4060 Martin Luther King Blvd., in North Las Vegas for $12,712.

Michael De Lew, Greg Pancirov and Kevin Collura of Colliers International represented the owners of Valley Freeway Centre Phase III, 7725 Commercial Way, in Henderson in the 65-month lease of 12,961 square feet of industrial space to U.S. Advanced Medical Research. Transaction amount was $627,766.

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