Company plans timeshare resort on south Strip

Monday, March 10, 2003 | 11:13 a.m.

A company that operates timeshare resorts in Las Vegas and Hawaii announced plans Friday for a new timeshare development on 20 acres on Las Vegas Boulevard South.

Consolidated Resorts Inc., which operates Club de Soleil and is developing the Tahiti timeshare on West Tropicana Avenue, plans to break ground in September on the $200 million Tahiti Village, a 580-unit development of two-bedroom timeshares.

The burgeoning timeshare market enables buyers to purchase increments of time at a specific location. Buyers have ownership, but live at the location for the contracted period of time. Industry experts say timeshare owners are ideal tourists because they spend more for food, entertainment and gambling when they visit because they have already paid for their lodging. Tourism officials also say timeshare owners are reliable for return visits.

The company said the project will be built on the southeast corner of Las Vegas Boulevard South and Arby Avenue. Sales are expected to begin in July or August.

Josephine Renaud, vice president of acquisition and development, said the development would be built in three or four phases, with the first scheduled for completion in August 2004. Buildings would range in height from two to eight stories, she said.

"Our entrance into the Las Vegas market three years ago has been an unqualified success and there is still a strong demand for vacation ownership weeks here, said Michael Kaplan, chairman of Consolidate Resorts' operating company, in a statement announcing the project.

Renaud said the Tahiti Village development would be similar in appearance to the company's five-acre Tahiti timeshares on Tropicana Avenue, which are expected to open in August or September. Construction on the 186-unit Tahiti project was set back about 45 days after a pre-dawn three-alarm fire swept through the construction site Jan. 7, causing $4.5 million damage.

Tahiti Village will have two swimming pools with sand-beach entrances, waterfalls, a spa, poolside cabanas and outdoor barbecue areas, Renaud said. The company also plans to build a putting green and sand volleyball courts.

Renaud said each of the units would be about 1,500 square feet and have several upscale amenities, including flat-screen plasma televisions and 6-foot whirlpool baths.

The company has no plans to offer gaming. At its other development it has shuttle service to take owners and guests to major hotels and other locations on the Strip.

Privately held Consolidated Resorts, founded in 1982, is headquartered in Las Vegas and has about 100,000 owners for its units in the city and at nine resorts on three Hawaiian islands.

Consolidated operates the Imperial Hawaii Resort on Waikiki Beach on Oahu, the Kona Islander on the Big Island and seven properties on the island of Maui.

The company is affiliated with Interval International, a vacation ownership exchange company with more than 1,700 resorts in 65 countries.