Former Luxe condos get Modern touch
Posted: Apr. 26, 2012 | 2:04 a.m.
The Las Vegas real estate fire sale is dying out quickly as investors such as BondRok Partners swoop in on properties that have gone through bankruptcy and returned to the market, maybe not for pennies on the dollar, but certainly dimes.
Los Angeles-based BondRok bought the former Luxe Lofts midrise condo project at 8925 W. Flamingo Road for $6.75 million and put an additional $6 million into finishing construction and upgrading the property, principal Patrick Humes said Wednesday.
It's been rebranded as The Modern, and tonight is the grand opening.
"The soup du jour in Vegas today is coming in and buying deals and turning it around," Humes said as he checked the readiness of model units. "We're looking to come into Vegas and do new products."
Construction on the 83-unit complex was halted in 2009 when developer Frank Hamadani filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The project's estimated construction cost was $38 million.
The Modern received its certificate of occupancy last week. Sales contracts are expected to be completed by May, with the first move-ins by the end of that month, sales director Nicole Milner Breen said Wednesday. So far, nine units are reserved with $5,000 deposits, she said.
Prices start at about $200,000 for a 1,200-square-foot, one-bedroom unit and go to $450,000 for a 2,500-square-foot, three-bedroom unit. Amenities include a two-story fitness center, pool and spa, fire pits, subterranean parking and onsite concierge.
Housing analyst Dennis Smith of Home Builders Research said The Modern is a good name for the building.
"I like the way it's designed with underground parking. The units are nice and the floor plans jump out at you," he said. "My only question is the location. Will that location allow them to capture those prices? I hope it does because that's a good sign for the market."
The Modern is close to the Strip and Beltway, away from affluent suburbs. The average price will be around $350,000, which buys a nice single-family home in Las Vegas, Smith said.
"It's a different demographic. It's going to attract young people, but they'd better have good jobs," he said.
Humes said Las Vegas is getting "beat up" by stories about unemployment, foreclosures and a horrible housing market, but he sees the bustling Strip as the fundamental strength of the city.
"We like the market. We think it's strong. It's got built-in growth," he said. "The amount of traffic I see on airplanes, in the hotels and bars and restaurants - it's tripled. You look at other cities, they don't have this type of growth. Vegas is shelf-ready. Jobs are dormant, but they can turn it back on in a heartbeat."
David Thurman, also a principal at BondRok, said developers had everyone in a "condo craze" six or seven years ago, thinking they could buy a unit in Las Vegas and rent it out or flip it for a quick profit. Less than 25 percent of the estimated 70,000 units proposed for 100 condo projects was built.
Sales director Breen said the luxury condo inventory is not that deep, with just 127 units available in nine towers and at higher per-square-foot pricing than The Modern.
