When it comes to luxury living, Nevada is moving on up. From one-year waiting lists in the north to opulent high rises in the south, Nevada is increasingly becoming the preferred destination for those interested in owning their own piece of the pie.
High-Rise Living More Popular
In Southern Nevada, sales have begun for The Residences at MGM Grand Las Vegas, with plans for six 40-story luxury condominium-hotel towers on the northeast end of the MGM Grand’s 116 acres. The project is a joint venture between the MGM Grand Hotel and Turnberry Associates, developer of Turnberry Place, which recently began construction on its fourth high-rise tower just one-half mile from the Strip. “The Residences at MGM Grand caters to those who want a turnkey lifestyle,” said John Riordan, vice president of sales for Turnberry Place. “The condominium-hotel will offer exclusive and flexible living accommodations uniquely combining the value of a permanent residence with the convenience of a hotel year-round.”
Riordan reports more than 60 percent of the buyers at Turnberry Place are from Southern California, relocating for the favorable tax climate, luxury lifestyle and easy living Southern Nevada has to offer. “When you live in a luxury condominium community, you can leave, lock your door and everything will be taken care of for you until you return,” said Riordan. “The front desk staff in the lobby will take care of any mail or packages left for you, and you don’t have to worry about upkeep of landscaping.”
Just down the road, another luxury high-rise is underway. Metropolis, located at the corner of East Desert Inn Road overlooking Wynn Las Vegas, is being constructed by Texas developer Randall Davis. Metropolis, a 20-story Art Deco-inspired building, will feature only 71 units, including flats (single level) and lofts. Amenities will include a private wine cellar with a catering kitchen, a fitness center with state-of-the-art equipment, an oversized pool and more.
“Much like we’ve seen in other parts of the nation, when a city grows at the rate Las Vegas has, you must go vertical,” saidBrenda Calvin of The Calvin Group, Metropolis’ listing broker. “I’ve found our buyers are looking for a lifestyle – easy, turnkey, with no external maintenance.” Calvin began accepting reservations for Metropolis in March 2003, and 75 percent of the units have already been sold. The building is set to for completion in late spring or early summer of 2005.
Luxury Home Outlook
Sharon Dixon, ABS, CRS, SRES, owner/broker of Custom Realty & Marketing, a long-time real estate professional specializing in custom and luxury homes, sees demand for luxury housing in Southern Nevada growing exponentially. Since founding her company in the 1990s, Dixon has seen the luxury market change dramatically.
“I remember in 1995 there were only 12 homes sold for over $1 million,” said Dixon. “There were 17 in 1997 and 78 in 2000. Last year, approximately 200 single-family homes over $1 million closed escrow. This doesn’t even include luxury condo or townhome units.”
Dixon, who sells homes throughout the Las Vegas Valley, reported, “There is a big boom in the luxury market, especially recently. With water rights being outrageously expensive, there will be few, if any, golf courses forthcoming, which is bringing existing golf-community home values higher and higher,” said Dixon. “There are only 75,000 more buildable acres in Las Vegas left, enough for about eight to ten years. This means the only other way to go is up. You’ll see many more condominiums being planned. We may even wind up looking like Manhattan one day.”
Dixon attributes the recent boom to the continual influx of people moving to Southern Nevada every month. New homebuilders have no inventory to sell, resulting in a boom in the resale market. “The driving force of this market is that the lower-end product price increase has afforded sellers the opportunity to move up. Typically, they move up to one and one-half times the price range they were in previously, which creates a domino effect,” explained Dixon. “Everyone is moving up. For the first time in first quarter 2004, Las Vegas is experiencing multiple offers and overbidding wars on resale homes, including custom homes. We just cannot keep up. Buyers are realizing they can buy a lot and build their own home for considerably less than an existing one. But the problem now is that most of the lower-priced lots have been sold, leaving only those over $400,000. With this said, families are buying custom homes now more than ever.”
Many of these custom homes are located in the master-planned communities of Summerlin and Green Valley, and hillside lots overlooking the Las Vegas Valley are especially valued. Rich MacDonald, whose MacDonald Highlands development is located on hillsides south of Las Vegas, reports, “Last year was our best year ever for lot sales for custom homes. Additionally, in recent months, we’ve seen a major increase in people wanting larger parcels.”
Northern Nevada Booming
In Northern Nevada, Lori McCleary, special events director for the Builders Association of Northern Nevada (BANN) is seeing big changes too. BANN, a non-profit organization affiliated with the National Association of Home Builders, represents the collective interests of the construction industry in Northern Nevada. These days, BANN members have something to be happy about.
“We’re experiencing a huge influx of Californians relocating to Northern Nevada to escape from that state’s taxes and crowding,” said McCleary. “People are selling homes for $1 million in California and then moving here and buying better homes at a lower rate. They might spend $500,000 and pocket the rest.”
McCleary says new residents are attracted to Northern Nevada’s mountains and lakes and its ski opportunities. Plus, Reno is not a large gambling town like Las Vegas and is not overcrowded. “If the tax base stays the same, the luxury market here will just continue to grow,” said McCleary. “Even production builders here are now building higher-end homes. We have one-year waiting lists.”
According to 2003 year-end real estate sales numbers reported by the Lake Tahoe-based real estate firm Chase International, home sales across the Lake Tahoe region experienced major gains, particularly in the million-plus single-family home and upper-end condominium markets. Sales of single-family units of over $1 million grew by 36 percent over sales in 2002 on the East Shore, and by 43 percent over 2002 in Incline Village. Sales of Incline Village condo units priced at over $500,000 increased by 9 percent over 2002, while on the East Shore, sales increased by a whopping 111 percent.
“After a few soft years – but not bad years – the luxury home market is very strong here,” said Susan Lowe, vice president of Chase International, which specializes in the high-end luxury market in Lake Tahoe and surrounding areas. “We’ve seen a big surge in sales over $1 million from last year.”
Lowe attributes these bold numbers to an economy that is turning around, a strong stock market and low interest rates. She says people are feeling more comfortable about acquiring a second, third or even fourth home. “I’ve noticed that people want family vacation homes that they can pass on from generation to generation,” said Lowe. “We’ve seen a lot more of that since Sept. 11. People want to get back to the family unit. In our area, people want a view of the water. Most all buyers want lakefront and/or panoramic views. They want a buoy, pier and sandy beaches. If you have those three things, you have a gold mine, because new buoys are no longer permitted and much of Tahoe’s shoreline is rocky, not sandy.”
Lowe noted that while most buyers admit they would prefer a new home, they are instead opting for homes build in the 1970s and updating them because they’re in a no-growth area. With the area’s growth restraints, buyers are rarely able to find a home that is 10,000 square feet or larger, which would be easy to find in Southern Nevada.
“Right now, there is a $700 million redevelopment effort taking place on the South Shore, with an emphasis on our ski corridor,” explained Lowe. “From lifts to timeshares with an outdoor ice rink, as it continues to move forward we’ll be able to compete with Vail and Aspen – and they don’t even have a lake. Our luxury market is going to continue to grow.”
Architecture and Design Options
If Lowe is correct in her growth predictions, builders and developers aren’t the only ones who can expect to stay busy. Architects, landscapers and interior designers all have something to cheer about. They can expect to continue catering to the high-end market.
Roberto DeLeeon, a senior designer/architect with the residential studio at Perlman Architects, said a poll of five people looking to build a custom/luxury home would most likely discover that four out of those five have built a home previously and are in tune with what needs to be done. “They understand the architect is there to shape and to add creativity to the design. They have found a trust in their previous experience and have respect for what the architect brings to the vision,” said DeLeeon.
“The details are so important,” said Cary Garland, an interior designer with Collins Interiors, an interior design firm in Southern Nevada. “Clients may build their dream house once – maybe twice – in a lifetime. We work closely with them every day and manage the process from furniture and accessory choices all the way down to coordinating with the tile people, carpenters and electricians.”
Garland notes that most clients have a vision of what they want, but it is the designer’s job to make that vision a reality. When it comes to the features and amenities clients seem to want most, Garland said plasma/flat screen televisions are very popular right now. She said some of her clients are incorporating not one or two, but as many as six plasma screens in a great room. “What’s interesting about this is that the furniture manufacturers haven’t caught up with technology and the flat-screen rage,” said Garland. “As a result, I’ve been designing custom built-in units for plasma screens and then hiring carpenters who can build fine furniture to go along with new or existing furniture.”
Other trends include the return to wool carpeting, which is longer lasting, fades the leas, and is resistant to stains, and the demand for dramatic furniture, such as round tables made out of stone or marble that can seat more than 10 people.
As people’s needs, tastes and vision become decidedly more upscale and as growth continues to spark the demand for luxury living throughout Nevada, Dixon offers some sound advice.
“Now is definitely the time to buy a custom home, because prices have never gone down, only up,” she said. “And in this market, up could be way up.”
