Here is an article from today's Las Vegas Review Journal about the end of the Sandhurst project.
Downtown condominium Sandhurst shutting down
By HUBBLE SMITH
REVIEW-JOURNAL
The developer of Sandhurst, one of the early high-rise condo projects announced for downtown Las Vegas, said Friday he's returning more than $7 million in deposits to 105 buyers as rising construction costs have doomed yet another condo project.
"It doesn't mean this project won't come back. We just don't see the value of holding up our buyers," Michael Mirolla said. "We're working with the group of investors who have title to the land, who still want to build Sandhurst, and if we can resurrect it, we'll reach out to the buyers."
Mirolla said he appreciates the "tenacity and loyalty" of Sandhurst buyers, many of whom had their money in escrow since July, but he felt the right thing to do was return their deposits.
Sandhurst had more than 60 percent of its units under contract and was negotiating with Corus Bank for roughly $250 million in construction financing, but coming up with equity financing was the "toughest portion," Mirolla said.
"Construction prices hurt us last year. Quite frankly, after pricing jumped so high, investors looked at this and wanted to wait until construction costs stabilize, which they have," he said. "But time marches on, and investors march on to other areas."
Mirolla said his group has tens of millions of dollars invested in the 3.2-acre site on former Union Pacific Railroad land near Charleston Boulevard and Interstate 15, including entitlements, site planning and approval and soft costs such as design and marketing. The property was purchased from Union Pacific in July 2004 for $2.8 million and has been appraised at $24 million, he said.
"We've taken it as far as we can. We're two weeks from pulling permits from the building department. But in all fairness to the buyers, we have to get funding first," he said.
Jeremy Aguero, principal of Applied Analysis, a Las Vegas research firm, was among the first to predict that only 30 percent of the proposed 100,000 high-rise units would be built. He said sales have fallen significantly in the past three months.
"It's not the first and I'm here to tell you it's not going to be the last," Aguero said of Sandhurst's cancellation.
Sandhurst was planned for 398 units originally priced from $250,000 when the project was announced two years ago. The price went up to $475,000 when construction costs rose by 30 percent in 2005. The 35-story project was scheduled to break ground in September 2005.
Find this article at:
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_ho.../11956754.html