News Archive

  • A slow-paced rebound for commercial real estate on horizon

    December 29, 2010 | Las Vegas Sun | Buck Wargo

    Follow the jobs.

    That's the best way to predict the commercial real estate market in Las Vegas, which analysts say will show gradual signs of recovery in 2011.

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  • Las Vegas loses 13,400 construction jobs in last year

    December 28, 2010 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Hubble Smith

    Construction employment grew or remained steady in 120 out of 337 U.S. metropolitan statistical areas in the 12-month period through November, but Las Vegas was not one of them, the Associated General Contractors reported Tuesday.

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  • Politicians set to play numbers game
    New census figures bring redrawing of legislative districts

    December 27, 2010 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Benjamin Spillman

    In the not-so-long-ago days, Nevada lawmakers rolled out big maps of the state and drew lines.

    Those lines were the boundaries of their state Senate and Assembly districts.

    And the general political goal -- widely understood, if not stated openly -- was to make sure those districts included as many voters as possible who would re-elect the incumbent.

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  • Debate over Nevada's school funding intensifies
    Report raises questions about whether education money flows to schools

    December 27, 2010 | Las Vegas Business Press | Valerie Miller

    The Clark County School District sends too much money to other counties for education and is underfunded compared with other in-state school districts, a recent report said.

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  • Nevada jobless rate increases
    Construction, hospitality continue to disappoint as rate hits 14.3 percent

    December 17, 2010 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Jennifer Robison

    The recession has wiped out 15 years' worth of economic growth in some corners of Nevada's economy, and experts say some of that lost commercial activity could be gone for good.

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  • Cosmopolitan Opens to the Public

    December 15, 2010 | 8 News Now |

    LAS VEGAS - With an exciting countdown, the doors to the Cosmopolitan finally opened. Thousands of eager gamblers, tourists and locals walked into the new resort's elegant interior. Inside the 100,000 square foot casino, luxury appeared before their eyes.

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  • The Cosmopolitan opens on the Las Vegas Strip

    December 15, 2010 | 13 Action News |

    Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) - The $3.9 billion Cosmopolitan Las Vegas officially opens for business Wednesday. And although the hotel looks small in stature, it's big when it comes to guests' experience.

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  • CityCenter sees year of ups, downs
    Observers point to lessons as The Cosmopolitan prepares to open

    December 14, 2010 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Jennifer Robison

    It's the largest private development ever built in the United States, and a year after its opening, CityCenter still holds an outsized sway over the Las Vegas hospitality market.

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  • Report: Education funding needs look
    Analysis calls for legislators to re-examine how money is distributed

    December 14, 2010 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Ed Vogel

    CARSON CITY - Fiscal home rule in Nevada's school districts is just an "illusion" because the Legislature exerts so much control over education funding, according to a Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce report released Monday.

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  • Cosmopolitan Signals End To Strip Boom Era
    Cosmopolitan Opens Wednesday

    December 13, 2010 | Fox 5 News |

    LAS VEGAS - As the Cosmopolitan prepares to open on Wednesday, analysts said the casino-hotel property could be Las Vegas' last major opening for years to come.

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  • Economic Forecast
    Mostly Cloudy with a Chance of Improvement

    December 10, 2010 | Nevada Business | Howard Riell

    Business leaders across Nevada are saying they expect 2011 to be slightly better than 2010, which should thrill absolutely no one.

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  • South Point: Five, alive and thriving
    Debt-free property succeeds by serving tourists, locals

    December 9, 2010 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Howard Stutz

    There is something to be said for doing things the old-fashioned way.

    Take Michael Gaughan and South Point for instance.

    As the economy crumbled around him, Gaughan didn't change the operational style at the 2,163-room hotel-casino.

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  • All indexed casino operators, equipment makers show gains

    December 1, 2010 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Howard Stutz

    Want another sign the gaming industry might be on a rebound?

    All 10 casino operators and gaming equipment manufacturers charted by Las Vegas financial adviser Applied Analysis showed increases in their average daily stock price during November compared with October.

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  • Las Vegas Among World's Worst Economies

    November 30, 2010 | 8 News Now |

    LAS VEGAS - On the same day Las Vegas discovered its sour economy was among the world's worst, Bhavna Patel's eyebrow threading shop on the Strip closed for good.

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  • Not-so-famous five in spotlight as they hold key to budget

    November 30, 2010 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Ed Vogel

    CARSON CITY - John Restrepo. Michael Alastuey. Matthew Maddox. Andrew Martin. Linda Rosenthal.

    Recognize any of these names?

    Probably not.

    But today , these five people will gather as members of Nevada's Economic Forum and for the moment have more power over future state government spending than Gov.-elect Brian Sandoval or any legislator.

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  • Report says Las Vegas has world's fifth-worst economy
    Report ranks local economy as one of world's worst

    November 30, 2010 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Jennifer Robison

    You already know Las Vegas has one of the country's worst economies.

    Now, a new report takes things further.

    The Brookings Institution, which is based in Washington but has a local research arm, said Tuesday that the Las Vegas Valley has the world's fifth-worst economy. The think tank ranked the region No. 146 on its Global Metro Monitor, which rates the world's 150 biggest metropolitan economies on their economic strength before, during and after the recession.

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  • Las Vegas City Hall could become new headquarters for Zappos
    Council vote on proposal upcoming

    November 29, 2010 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Alan Choate and Tim O'Reiley

    Zappos wants to take over the Las Vegas City Hall building and use it as the company's headquarters when the city moves out, bringing an expected 1,000 jobs to downtown and the potential for additional construction and development.

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  • Zappos views Las Vegas City Hall as perfect fit for new headquarters

    November 29, 2010 | Las Vegas Sun | Joe Schoenmann

    In a move that could change the economic landscape of downtown Las Vegas, Zappos.com will take over City Hall, moving its headquarters and about 1,000 employees there sometime in 2012.

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  • Nevada taxable sales up, Clark County down
    Clark County doesn't share in state's good news

    November 23, 2010 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Jennifer Robison

    Look, Ma, no tax amnesty!

    Nevada's merchants improved their overall taxable sales for the third straight month in September, this time without help from the back-taxes training wheels that propped up sales figures through July and August.

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  • Valley land values slow their decline in third quarter
    Property prices show signs of improvement

    November 22, 2010 | Las Vegas Business Press | Tony Illia

    Free-falling valley land values showed recent signs of stability after hitting an eight-year low earlier this year, Las Vegas-based business advisory firm Applied Analysis reported.

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  • For stores, a scant serving of hope for holiday season
    Analysts say Las Vegas retailers in for slight improvement

    November 22, 2010 | Las Vegas Sun | Buck Wargo

    Even retail analysts and shop owners are wary of being labeled as Scrooge this year.

    They say that although sales will remain weak by historic standards in Las Vegas, the now-underway holiday season will be an improvement over the past two years.

    Retail sales across the country will increase 2.3 percent over last year, according to a projection by the National Retail Federation, and local analysts said that's their expectation as well for Southern Nevada. A national report released last week showed October marked the fourth straight increase in retail sales.

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  • Black Friday looks better for Las Vegas, not great

    November 19, 2010 | Las Vegas Sun | Buck Wargo

    Even retail analysts are wary of being labeled as Scrooge this year.

    With the holiday shopping season under way, local analysts and retailers said although sales will remain weak by historic standards in Las Vegas, 2010 will be an improvement over the past two years.

    Read More »
  • Fire sprinkler plan sent to committee
    Commissioners opt against requirement for new homes

    November 17, 2010 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Scott Wyland

    A plan to require fire sprinklers in new homes built in unincorporated areas fizzled Tuesday after a heated debate.

    Supporters and opponents came to the Clark County Commission meeting armed with dueling statistics and vitriolic arguments.

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  • Look to Gaming for Big Returns

    November 15, 2010 | Fox Business |

    Applied Analytics Principal Analyst Brian Gordon discusses why the gaming sector is paying off for many investors.

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  • Waking Up From Recession, Las Vegas Still Hung Over

    November 14, 2010 | NPR News | Liane Hansen

    In Las Vegas, there's no shortage of ways a visitor can spend money. But for many Las Vegas residents, it's been a different story. Since the recession hit nearly three years ago, some have fallen on tough times. Host Liane Hansen visited Las Vegas last week and, in the first of two reports, takes a look at the city's current economic state in the midst of a deep recession.

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  • Las Vegas population in decline; will it reverse?
    Despite Nevada's economic woes, some experts predict growth returning in coming years

    November 13, 2010 | Las Vegas Sun | J. Patrick Coolican

    An economic shock causes a city's main industry to falter, and its residents flee in droves in search of work elsewhere.

    We could be talking about Seattle and its "Boeing recession" after the collapse of aerospace in the '70s, or Odessa, Texas, in the '80s after the price of oil plunged.

    And according to some recent estimates of the region's demographics, we might soon be placing Las Vegas in the same category.

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  • Nevada jobless rate falls for first time since 2007
    State unemployment now 14.2 percent, but many left job market

    November 12, 2010 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Jennifer Robison

    A new report shows increasing numbers of Nevadans have given up on the state's job market.

    The state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation reported Monday that tens of thousands of residents have abandoned the Silver State's work force, either moving to other markets or staying put but quitting their job search.

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  • Site of proposed high-rise condos, retail space foreclosed upon

    November 11, 2010 | Las Vegas Sun | Buck Wargo

    A site along the Las Vegas Beltway where a proposed mixed-use condominium development on 44 acres never got built has been foreclosed upon.

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  • Alliance buys apartment complex for $37 million
    Short sale gives company 3,500 local units

    November 10, 2010 | Las Vegas Business Press | Tony Illia

    Alliance Residential Co., a Phoenix-based national apartment developer, recently expanded its Southern Nevada presence with the $37 million acquisition of The Reserve at Arrow Canyon in North Las Vegas.

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  • Local economic indicators continue to rise
    Indicators provide no clear direction for local economy

    November 4, 2010 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Hubble Smith

    Strong growth in Clark County's gaming revenue for August drove the Southern Nevada Index of Leading Economic Indicators to its second consecutive monthly increase, UNLV's Center for Business and Economic Research reported.

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  • Hard Rock Hotel & Casino facing financial difficulty

    November 3, 2010 | 13 Action News |

    Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) - The slow economy in Las Vegas has left the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino between a financial rock and a hard place.

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  • Hard Rock Faces Financial Struggles

    November 3, 2010 | 8 News Now |

    LAS VEGAS - The Hard Rock hotel and casino is known for its innovative nightlife and music scene.

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  • Debt refinancing plans lift gaming stocks in October
    Applied Analysis index up 35 points

    October 30, 2010 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Howard Stutz

    It wasn't results inside casinos that drove gaming industry stock prices up robustly in October.

    Plans announced by several companies that are attempting to improve their balance sheets gave investors confidence in the sector as a whole.

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  • Las Vegas apartment rent prices continue to fall

    October 29, 2010 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Hubble Smith

    Apartment rents in the Las Vegas Valley continued to fall while occupancy rose slightly in the third quarter, business advisory firm Applied Analysis reported.

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  • Commercial real estate's slide likely at an end
    Office vacancy rates still high, but recovery signs beginning to appear

    October 29, 2010 | Las Vegas Sun | Buck Wargo

    The commercial real estate market led by the office sector appears to have halted its slide and is showing signs of stability that has been lacking over the past couple of years, analysts said.

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  • Sandoval, Reid talk taxes, budgets in final debate
    Candidates spar on TV program

    October 28, 2010 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Ed Vogel

    CARSON CITY - The gubernatorial candidates' sounded familiar charges in their final debate on Wednesday: Republican Brian Sandoval asserted his opponent will raise taxes; Democrat Rory Reid said Sandoval misrepresents his position.

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  • Sandoval's "return to 2007 spending" would be a challenge

    October 28, 2010 | Las Vegas Sun | David McGrath Schwartz

    Brian Sandoval, the Republican candidate for governor, used the final two debates of the campaign to accuse his opponent, Democrat Rory Reid, of not playing it straight with voters. The Clark County commissioner, Sandoval said, had promised to protect everyone " K-12, higher education, health and human services " while not raising taxes.

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  • Las Vegas Ranked Dumbest City in America

    October 27, 2010 | 8 News Now |

    LAS VEGAS - The Daily Beast website has ranked Las Vegas as the dumbest city in America. The report is based on the amount of people with bachelor's degrees, amount of libraries and other data.

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  • Dumb, dumber -- and we're dumbest?
    Website bases ranking on education, intellectualism

    October 27, 2010 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Jennifer Robison

    You noticed it as soon as you moved here.

    From the morons who cut suddenly across four lanes without signaling their last-second exit to the co-worker so inept that you were convinced he spent his childhood eating lead paint, it seemed that locals were just, you know, kind of -- well -- dumb.

    That hunch? It's not just you.

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  • Reid, Sandoval spar in feisty debate
    Budget planning still point of contention

    October 26, 2010 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Benjamin Spillman

    Democrat Rory Reid called Republican Brian Sandoval the "biggest quitter in the history of Nevada" on Tuesday evening, and Sandoval invoked Reid's famous father, the Senate majority leader.

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  • Las Vegas Valley jobless rate hits record 15 percent

    October 22, 2010 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Jennifer Robison

    Dave Warnock doesn't have a lot of lives to save these days.

    Warnock, a Las Vegas construction risk manager who trains workers in job-site safety and monitors occupational hazards, lost his job as director of safety with general contractor Marnell Corrao Associates two months ago. Warnock worked on several big projects, including the M Resort, Echelon and a new tower at Caesars Palace. But as those projects wrapped up or halted, work dried up.

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  • Industrial sector sees activity

    October 21, 2010 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Hubble Smith

    Several major industrial transactions drove third-quarter net absorption into positive territory for the first time in a year, commercial brokerage Grubb & Ellis reported.

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  • Foreclosure freeze taking a toll on local real estate market

    October 15, 2010 | 13 Action News |

    Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) - The struggling economy and floundering housing market are two issues at the forefront of the upcoming election as some of the nation's biggest banks have become the target of investigations in almost 50 states.

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  • Consumer Spending on the Rise

    October 15, 2010 | 8 News Now |

    LAS VEGAS - Consumers are starting to spend a little more. For the third straight month, retail sales are on the rise nationwide, and the trend is being seen in Las Vegas. Experts says there's still a long way to go in turning around the economy.

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  • Las Vegas Valley retail vacancies rise to 10.5 percent
    Official: No new anchored shopping centers likely to come this year

    October 14, 2010 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Hubble Smith

    The health of Las Vegas' retail market continued to deteriorate in the third quarter as the vacancy rate rose to a new high of 10.5 percent and nearly 200,000 square feet of retail space was returned to the market, Colliers International brokerage reported.

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  • Short sales, REOs rule in Las Vegas
    Distressed properties make up more than 70 percent of transactions

    October 12, 2010 | Inman News | Andrea V. Brambila

    While some metropolitan areas are seeing stagnant sales activity, the Las Vegas residential real estate market saw more than twice as many home sales in September, 3,603, as it did in the same month in 2006, when 1,740 homes sold, according to the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, which covers Las Vegas and surrounding areas in Southern Nevada.

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  • Titus and Heck square off over issues at local debate

    October 10, 2010 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Benjamin Spillman

    Democratic Rep. Dina Titus and Republican challenger Joe Heck got a chance to talk face-to-face Saturday about issues facing voters in Nevada's 3rd Congressional District and to get beyond the 30-second political ads that have thus far defined the campaign.

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  • Election cycle affects our mood

    October 8, 2010 | Las Vegas Sun | Jeremy Aguero

    Several recent economic reports have provided some encouraging news relative to the national and local economy. The recession is officially over and the employment picture appears to be improving, with private-sector hiring on the rise and our local unemployment rate having ticked down a notch.

    Read More »
  • Developers close escrow on 23 acres at Boca Park

    October 5, 2010 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Hubble Smith

    The developers of One Queensridge Place and Tivoli Village closed escrow on a 23-acre parcel of land at Boca Park shopping center for nearly $11.8 million, a real estate source said Tuesday.

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  • Local gaming stocks see September surge
    LV Sands helps boost index

    October 1, 2010 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Howard Stutz

    With two exceptions, the gaming sector had an upward bounce during September.

    Eight of the 10 publicly traded casino operators and slot machine manufacturers that financial consultant Applied Analysis follows for its gaming index experienced increases in their average daily stock prices during the month.

    The results helped the index achieve its highest level in nearly two years.

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  • Lenders gaining speed in going after commercial foreclosures

    October 1, 2010 | Las Vegas Sun | Buck Wargo

    Lenders are picking up the pace of foreclosing on commercial properties in Las Vegas in a move that could further reset prices and prompt rents to fall even further, analysts said.

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  • The taxing elephant in the room

    September 29, 2010 | Las Vegas Sun | Jon Ralston

    Gubernatorial contenders Brian Sandoval and Rory Reid are having a lively argument over who works for the bigger juice firm, who is more connected to the banking industry and who is more in bed with lobbyists.

    Read More »
  • Nevada's taxable sales rise 5.3 percent
    Increase most since October 2007

    September 27, 2010 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Jennifer Robison

    Nevada's taxable sales posted their best increase in years in July, but local retailers and analysts said it could be years before transactions return to their pre-recession levels.

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  • The Billion Dollar Baby
    After crawling through year one, M Resort banks on better fortunes to hit its stride

    February 24, 2010 | Vegas Seven | Nicole Lucht

    No neighborhood casino has been immune to the Great Recession, but one property has had it especially rough. M Resort opened a year ago March 1 against the biggest headwinds the Las Vegas gaming industry has ever faced. It wasn't cheap -- $1 billion. It had no sister properties to help market it. And its expected customer base never materialized around its isolated location, way out on Las Vegas Boulevard and St. Rose Parkway.

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  • Shells of our Former Selves
    As the city struggles to absorb its glut of empty space, the commercial real estate bomb is ticking

    February 17, 2010 | Vegas Seven | Brian Sodoma

    The Vantage Lofts website still proudly claims to have sold out the first release of its modern, cube-shaped lofts. There are even "special buyer incentives for a limited time" on upcoming releases. But a drive out to the site, perched atop a hill at the corner of Gibson Road and Paseo Verde Parkway in Henderson, reveals quite a different story. The sales center is boarded up. The fenced-off project has exposed rebar, and some wood framing is soaked from a recent rainstorm. Construction on the project officially stopped in March 2008, and a bankruptcy filing came by that summer. Despite claims by owner Slade Development "which has a 30-year track record of custom home building here" that it plans to complete the project, Vantage Lofts is dead for now.

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