Condo towers planned near Orleans casino

Jennifer Shubinski

Wednesday, March 9, 2005 | 10:46 a.m.

A group of investors has plans to develop two condominium towers across from the Orleans casino and expects to break ground on the first tower later this year.

Auto dealership firm the Falconi Group, local consulting firm Elysium Enterprises, and Pittsburgh-based development company Praxis Resources Inc. obtained approval recently from the Clark County Commission to build two 40-story (410-foot) towers at the southwest corner of Tropicana and Cameron avenues.

Preliminary plans call for a mix of retail, office and restaurants on the 12-acre site. The two towers, to be called the Pinnacle, will have between 592 units to 1,184 residential units. Development costs were not available.

Developers are planning to slightly redesign the project before an upcoming plan review by the county, Michael Bellon, president of Elysium Enterprises and development director for the Falcon Group.

Bellon said because of the county's relatively new mixed-use development ordinances, the group will make sure it has the required mix of commercial types. Once that has been finalized, the number of residential units also will be finalized, Bellon said.

Clark County's mixed-use ordinance governs projects of varying height that merge residential, retail, office and other uses, often in a single high-rise building.

"It's a great step the county took to control over crowding and massive developments," Bellon said of the new rules. "In the long run, it will make for really beautiful projects."

Condominiums at the project will range in size from 706 square feet to 1,235 square feet and will be priced from $295,000 to $1.2 million.

Chris Martin, a spokesman for the group, said the development would cater to a mix of people, including those looking for primary and second homes.

Plans are to allow buyers looking for more space to combine and customize condo units, he said.

"The audience is people that live and work in Las Vegas as well as those people that frequent Las Vegas," Martin said.

The entry of the Praxis Group is part of a continuing trend of East Coast and Florida developers entering the Las Vegas market to build high-rise condominium towers.

Some of the many developers include:

The Related Group of Florida and The Related Cos., based in New York, have created a joint venture on all Las Vegas projects, which along with the city's 61-acre development, the World Market Center, and a condominium tower at the northeast corner of Convention Center Drive and Las Vegas Boulevard.

New York-based Dezer Development, with condominium projects in Miami Beach, recently announced plans for a $1 billion condominium development near Tropicana and Industrial Road.

Florida-based developer F.W. "Freddie" Schinz plans to build the Krystle Sands condominium-hotel at the site of the now demolished Algiers Hotel.