Lied Institute panel to study education’s effect on economy

By Buck Wargo

Fri, Aug 13, 2010 (3 a.m.)

The Lied Institute for Real Estate Studies has selected education and how it relates to the Southern Nevada economy as its topic for its 2010 round-table discussion.

The UNLV-based group in the past has tackled such issues as economic diversification, sustainability, transportation, redevelopment and the social effect of growth in its round tables to influence decision-making of elected officials and garner community support for its proposals.

This year’s topic: “Nevada, 50th in the Nation for Education,” will be dissected over two days by a group of about 80 business leaders, local and state politicians and educators who will meet Aug. 16-17 in closed meetings. They will produce a report that will be issued by the end of the year.

“We will explore what that means and how did we get there and how we are going to work our way out of this,” said Henderson Councilwoman Debra March, who is co-leader of the round table. “We will look at how this ranking impacts economic development and diversification in our state.”

With the state facing a budget deficit, March said it’s a difficult time to address education, but it’s vital to deal with the issue if the region wants to attract businesses, since they require an educated workforce.

March is co-hosting the round table with John Vorsheck, who heads the Marcus & Millichap law office in Las Vegas.

Las Vegas land sale outlook

Banks started to unload some of their vacant land holdings in the second quarter, and the sales volume reached its highest level in more than three years, according to a recent report released by Applied Analysis.

The consulting firm reported the 744.9 acres sold from April through June outpaced the 526 acres in the first quarter and the 395 acres sold during the second quarter of 2009.

The Las Vegas market hasn’t seen this many acres trade hands since 2007’s first quarter, Applied Analysis Principal Brian Gordon said.

Sixty-eight percent of the land transactions in the second quarter were sales with a majority of those deals being lenders selling to third parties, Gordon said. In the first quarter, nearly 75 percent of the land transactions involved lenders taking back properties, he said. A foreclosure counts as a transaction, he said.

“During the past 12 to 18 months, we have seen a number of banks take back (vacant land) by foreclosure, and lenders are looking to dispose of many of those assets,” Gordon said.

Finding buyers for properties, however, has forced lower prices. During the second quarter, the price per square foot paid for the 742.7 acres outside the Strip was $3.55 per square foot or $154,700 per acre. That’s a 15 percent decline from the first quarter’s price of $182,441 an acre.

The second quarter price is 39 percent lower than the $255,309 per acre in 2009’s second quarter, according to Applied Analysis.

Since the peak of the market in 2007’s fourth quarter, vacant land prices have tumbled 83.5 percent, Gordon said. The decline is attributed to the oversupply of homes, offices, industrial and retail buildings.

Gordon said the vacant land trend is similar to what occurred when lenders foreclosed on homes. It took time to place homes on the market, and Gordon said sales volumes for vacant land could pick up as well.

Banks have targeted vacant land more than commercial buildings when it comes to foreclosing on properties. Lenders have been more willing to work out deals with owners of commercial buildings because they produce income compared with vacant land, Gordon said.

The lone transaction in the resort corridor in the second quarter was property auctioned by Clark County. The 2.16 acres sold for $25 million to BPS Partners. Walgreens is expected to anchor a 100,000-square-foot retail development across from CityCenter.

Chinese group buys hotel

A Chinese investment group bought the 150-room Clarion Suites Hotel east of the Strip for $12 million and have rebranded it as a Ramada.

The investment group, 325 Flamingo LLC, acquired the property from Dallas-based Highland Capital Management, said Mike Mixer, senior vice president of Colliers International Las Vegas.

Highland took back the property through a foreclosure. It was previously owned by Steven Molasky, who had once planned a high-rise condominium tower on the 5.6 acres at 325 E. Flamingo Road.

The hotel sold for $80,000 per unit. Mixer said the bank-owned transaction reflects long-term confidence in the Las Vegas hotel sector. The buyers plan to hold the property, he said.

The sale sets a benchmark for the market of more than $2 million per acre for off the Strip, Mixer said.

“There have been so few transactions that we are hoping this one sets a bottom-line figure for resort corridor land,” Mixer said.

In other news

• California Real Estate Receiverships, based in Newport Beach, has opened a Las Vegas office. The firm recently managed the sale of more than $90 million in property in California, Arizona and Colorado for which Bank of America was the lender. The office at the Hughes Center.

• The U.S. Small Business Administration has selected Ron Opfer, director of commercial real estate special asset solutions at Coldwell Banker Premier Realty, to represent it in the sale of a one-story office building at 145 Panama St.

• Core Construction’s sixth-annual Christmas in July food drive for Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada has collected more than 10,000 canned goods and nonperishable items as well as $1,500 in cash and gift card donations. This is a record and surpasses the 8,000 items collected last year.

• PulteGroup has donated $16,500 to Wallin Elementary School for a writing program for K-5 students at the empowerment school. Empowerment schools are given greater autonomy than regular schools. Pulte’s communities of Paseo at Madeira Canyon and Club at Madeira Canyon are adjacent to the school.

• Which Wich Superior Sandwiches of Dallas opened its first Nevada store Aug. 4 at 2192 N. Rainbow Blvd. in the Best in the West shopping center. This marks the 20th state for the chain, which has more than 110 locations nationwide.

• Gigi’s Cupcakes, based in New Jersey, opened its first Las Vegas store at the northwest corner of Flamingo Road and Maryland Parkway. The chain, which has more than 25 stores across the country, opened its first store in Nashville, Tenn., in 2008.

• Frozen yogurt company Cherry on Top opened its first Las Vegas store at 10870 W. Charleston Blvd. across from Red Rock Resort. The California-based chain, which opened in 2007, has more than 25 stores nationwide.