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There seems to be alot of confusion, as Las Vegas changes so rapidly and re-invents itself. So here we are in 2008, and yet again, Las Vegas is in the midst of a high-rise boom on and off the Strip. They call it the "Manhattanization of Las Vegas". Even during a real estate slump. Anyway, Paradise is an area of that also includes the quadrant right behind the Wynn Resorts Golf Club, between Paradise and Maryland Parkway, Desert Inn (DI) and Flamingo. This is one of the last remaining residential area quadrants right by the CENTRAL PREMIUM part of the world famous Las Vegas Strip. If you go north on the Strip from Desert Inn, you approach Sahara and the Stratosphere. Living ANYWHERE up on the North Strip is not advisable.... that is a terrible drug infested high crime area. That area is far away. So, keep in mind the area I am talking about is the central premium area of the Strip: Paradise to Cambridge, DI to Flamingo.
Prior to all the redevelopment and urban renewal, you used to be able to find apartments as close to the Las Vegas Strip as Koval and Spring Mountain, but Wynn Resorts redeveloped and tore everything down, and the construction of the new monorail. A far as location, this is the best of the best of the best in the entire city. Many Las Vegas Strip workers live in this area, hard working people such as cooks, maid services, dealers, etc., as well as retired people. In addition, you have the convention center right there, and monorail station.
The area is absolutely phenomenal as far as location. With a car, you can go from Palos Verdes St and Twain Ave, right by Royal Crest Circle, to the Las Vegas Strip, entrance to Wynn, in 45 seconds. There are only 3 lights - light at Paradise and Twain, light at Howard Hughes and Sands, and a light at Koval and Sands (Spring Mountain). The busline is also conveniently located with a surplus of bus stops throughout the area.
Most of the buildings are old, of course, so it will be a major contrast from the Las Vegas Strip. So let's say you are on Spring Mountain and Paradise -- with the nice Howard Hughes center, Wells Fargo tower, etc. As soon as you cross Paradise and hit Twain, the change is clearly apparent. That is the line of the redevelopment. Then you enter an area of buildings built in the 60s and 70s. But the area has cleaned up drastically in the last 5 years, I know because I am there all the time. Old does not mean bad. There is a very nice 300 unit complex call Royal Crest, which is one of the last remaining large complexes there. It has 300 condos, from 1 to 2 bedroom, on 10 acres, with lots of green areas and a pool. 5 years ago, you would see graffiti everywhere, trash, crime. Now, the area has cleaned up drastically thanks to a greater interest in keeping the area nice and property values up, being the last residential area right by the Strip. Also, if you pull up the Las Vegas Metro crime map, you can see over the last 60 days, crime is minimal.
On Swenson and Sierra Vista, the Clock Tower apartments are being torn down right now, for a new high-rise development. That has also helped the area, as the Clock Tower was a less than desirable complex.
For real estate investors, this is the place AND time to buy. Right now, the pricing for this location is absolutely ludicrous. To be right next to the world famous Las Vegas Strip, and be able to purchase a 624 sq. ft. condo for $79,000, is absolutely unbelievable. Right now, prices there are severly deflated, below market. Location is the key, along with the value of land, making redevelopment ripe as development pushes out from the Strip due to availability of land. Furthermore, with all of the new jobs coming down the pipeline from the massive multi-billion dollar high-rise prijects (about 150,000 from City Center, Fountain Bleu, Cosmpolitan, etc. etc.) you will see a surge in tenants who want to live right by the Strip through the year 2012. Project City Center, at 8 billion, is the largest privately funded project in the USA.
As far as pricing of the units to purchase, let me further elaborate. The price of a 624 sq. ft. condo right near the Las Vegas Strip behind Wynn golf club should be no less than $139,000, no matter when it was built. In fact, it would not be inconceivable for a developer to pay $180,000 to $220,000 per unit, based on land values. High-rise condos are priced $300,000 up to millions. If you compare the price of land, which is where the value is, you will also see this is valid. On the Las Vegas Strip, land is $20 million an acre. But in the Palos Verdes / Paradise / Swenson / Royal Crest / DI / Twain quadrant, land is anywhere from $3 million to $6 million an acre, based on the comps. The Convention center just bought 3 acres for $18 million, to build a parking garage to handle future demand for conventions, and there is new polics station on Sierra Vista and Swenson under construction.
So let's talk actual numbers. Let's take Royal Crest ARMs, a 300 unit condo complex behind Wynn Resort Golf Club. Office of the complex is at 600 East Twain Ave. It is 10.27 acres, due to a vast amount of land used for carports, cul de sacs, and greenway walkway areas. It is an ideal location for redevelopment, one of the largest parcels remaining this close to the Strip. The comps on land are on a range of $3M to $6M per acre. Lets assume a developer only offers $4M per acre. You can verify the sale of the Clock Tower apartments right next door, and other parcels that were puchased by the Convention Center, with Clark County records.
10.27 acres x $4M = $40.8M. Divided by 300 units = $136,000 per unit. This is certainly quite reasonable for all parties involved, especially when a developer has to pay $20M per acre right on the Strip. And with the price of the condos seriously deflated around 70sK right now, you can see the potential.
So, the redevelopment is eventually going to creep all the way from Paradise to Cambridge, and eventually all the way to Maryland Parkway at the Blvd mall. Sure this can take some time, especially with the credit woes of today, but there is no way this quadrant will remain as-is next to the world famous Strip. However, in the meantime, it is a great area to live, by the Las Vegas Strip, whether you are retired, or work on the Las Vegas Strip. And it is a great area for investors to buy right now, and rent units out to Strip workers, because the potential for appreciation is tenfold, with land values. It is a very unique residential area, being so close to the world famous Las Vegas Blvd.. with many properties yielding exceptional views of the elaborate, opulent, exciting high-rise towers and resorts.
The area is the pits. It may actually be a good buy for a long term investment hold. But you don't want to live there. Crime is rampant. About 3 or 4 times worse than the naked city. Condos sell for $79K because you don't want to live there.
If you want to be an urban pioneer you go to the area east of the Stratosphere. The neighborhood is livable and likely will gentrify much more than Royal Crest or surround.
Living near the strip is fine. Try Sahara and Rancho. But not two blocks off crack alley.
If you want cheap, and close-in---check out Paradise Colony. Small units 462-618 sq ft, @100/k. Most don't even know these exist--Elm St, right next to Embassy-Paradise.
What really amazes me is how come the areas just a few blocks off the strip are high drug crime areas. The strip is a shiny rich place, yet few blocks from there its a dump. I really think that the areas around the strip should get renovated, get rid of all the scum out there. Imagine how much people would pay to live a few blocks off the strip in a nice/safe neighborhood! But I guess 99% of the funds go to improving the strip.
Half as bad as Royal Crest. Still twice the naked city though.
Anything that borders Twain is bad, but both Meadows Village, and Sierra Vista have been cleaned up the last 2-3 years. In particular, Sierra Vista from Paradise to Swenson has changed drastically, due to the lack of N-S access. From Swenson to Maryland is still bad, due to N-S access. Meadows Village is not nearly as bad as it was 2-3 years ago---and much of the crime attributed to this area actually occurs on LVBS. Not nearly the open-air drug markets they once were.
Anything that borders Twain is bad, but both Meadows Village, and Sierra Vista have been cleaned up the last 2-3 years. In particular, Sierra Vista from Paradise to Swenson has changed drastically, due to the lack of N-S access. From Swenson to Maryland is still bad, due to N-S access. Meadows Village is not nearly as bad as it was 2-3 years ago---and much of the crime attributed to this area actually occurs on LVBS. Not nearly the open-air drug markets they once were.
Yeah I agree. Actually a number of these complexes may be OK but the surround on the boulevards is pretty tough. The worst still tends to be eastern freemont. the Blue Angel overlooks a bad scene. Should be interesting to see what happens as those condos go up there.
What really amazes me is how come the areas just a few blocks off the strip are high drug crime areas. The strip is a shiny rich place, yet few blocks from there its a dump. I really think that the areas around the strip should get renovated, get rid of all the scum out there. Imagine how much people would pay to live a few blocks off the strip in a nice/safe neighborhood! But I guess 99% of the funds go to improving the strip.
This is true, but you have to understand the dynamics of the city and the cost of land to see how this all went down. In the past, in the 60s, 70s, you had places like the Flamingo, The Riviera, Desert Inns, etc. on the Strip. So areas around Twain were built at that time, and were decent areas housing Strip workers, extravagant show girls, etc. On another angle, if you look at downtown Las Vegas, it is a dump because, in the 80s, land on the Strip was cheaper, so development started with mega resorts like the Mirage. And downtown fell apart... the ghetto moved in...all the way to the Stratosphere, a nasty area still today.
Just three years ago there were nasty apartments at Koval and spring Mountain, but all gone now, thanks to the new Wynn resort and the monorail. It is re-developing, it just takes time....first the Strip develops, tearing down old properties like Frontier and Stardust, replaced by mega billion resorts like Echelon, etc. Now that land is so expensive on the Strip, you can see the development off the Strip. Instead of $20M an acre, you can pay $3M an acre off the Strip.
Check it out - the area you guys say is bad, around Twain... here is the latest.
Vegas Grand at Swenson and Flamingo - under construction, almost done.
Clock Tower Apartments on Swenson and Royal Crest - tearing down now, for new high-rise.
Platinum - Flamingo and Koval -- done.
Sierra Vista and Swenson - brand new police facility, under construction.
Las Palmas (behind Elm Dr, from Royal Crest) - being torn down for new high-rise.
The area is the pits. It may actually be a good buy for a long term investment hold. But you don't want to live there. Crime is rampant. About 3 or 4 times worse than the naked city. Condos sell for $79K because you don't want to live there.
If you want to be an urban pioneer you go to the area east of the Stratosphere. The neighborhood is livable and likely will gentrify much more than Royal Crest or surround.
Living near the strip is fine. Try Sahara and Rancho. But not two blocks off crack alley.
Im not so sure about that - the north Strip area, around Statosphere, east or west of the Strip, is just horrible. Areas like Royal Crest are well maintained properties (have you been there recently)? with working class Strip workers, and it is closer to the main premium Strip. Royal Crest is right behing the Wynn Golf course, on the other side of Paradise. That is the area to redevelop next, you can see from my post above, all of the new deveopments under construction.
The best thing to happen to that area is the demolition of the Clock Tower Apartments, on Swenson and Royal Crest. That is the development that is going to change that area drastically, from Twain to Sierra Vista. There is no way developers would tear down and build a high-rise on the Clock Tower if they didnt' know of future plans for that area. That whole quadrant will be gone --- redeveloped in the next 5 years. Now is the time to buy.
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