WORLD PROPERTY CHANNEL ®

• MGM Mirage Cuts Condo Prices by 30%

• Kansagra Converts Old Manhattan Factory into Small Condos

• LA Condo Developer Sonny Astani Runs into Hard Times

• Sotomayor Has No Plans to Leave Greenwich Village Condo for Washington House

• Canadians Storm Vegas to Buy Discounted Condos

• Celebrity Corner:  Actor Nicolas Cage Sells Fifth Avenue Condo

(LAS VEGAS, NV) -- As expected, MGM Mirage has cut the price of its 2,440 luxury condominiums at the $8.5 billion CityCenter mixed-used development by 30%.

Bobby Baldwin

"We believe that in this economic climate, this price reduction is an appropriate step to take on behalf of our buyers so as to provide them greater flexibility in closing on their residences," says MGM Mirage CEO Bobby Baldwin in a prepared statement.

In 1978, Baldwin won the World Series of Poker and became the youngest winner in the game's history.

The 67-acre development on the Las Vegas Strip is expected to open in December as a mixed-use complex with residential, retail and casino spaces.

In 2006 and 2007, when the market for luxury condominiums was at its height, MGM Mirage used more than $300 million in deposits for residential units to help fund the complex.

MGM Mirage had hoped to sell its condos at top-of-the-market prices, which would have brought in $2.6 billion. However, it ended up getting deposits on only a portion of the inventory. If all of those deposits were to result in sales, it would mean $1.6 billion in revenue.

Please see related articles:

"CityCenter Condo Prices in Las Vegas Could be Cut, Sept. 21, 2009"

"Vegas' CityCenter Plans a Multi-Tower Grand Opening in December, Sept. 16, 2009"

"Las Vegas CityCenter's Aria and Vdara Resort Hotels Receive LEED Gold Certification Status, Sept. 14, 2009"

"Las Vegas' CityCenter to be one of World's Largest Green Developments, Aug. 7, 2009"

"CityCenter Las Vegas Drives Energy Sustainablity Efforts with World's First Compressed Natural Gas Powered Limo Fleet, Aug. 4, 2009"

"Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas Set to Debut in December, July 13, 2009"

"MGM CityCenter Reveals Unparalleled Collection of Luxury Retailers and Restaurants, July 6, 2009"

"MGM's CityCenter Nears Completion as it Tops out Final Residential Component, Veer Towers, May 20, 2009"

"Dubai-Vegas Partners Settle Differences Giving Green Light for Completion of $8B CityCenter Resort-Casino, April 30, 2009"

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SoHo District street

(NEW YORK, NY) -- Manhattan-based Kansagra Real Estate has turned an old SoHo district factory building at 30 S. Howard St. into a 13-unit, four-level $2.3 million condominium community--the first such development in New York City in years, according to Kevin Schreiber, the city's economic development director. 

The lower floor units will be sold in the $200,000 range; the upper units, about $350,000.  SAA Architects of York, PA designed the project.  The units are expected to sell quickly.

"There's really nothing else here like it," says H. Robert Mock, an SAA project manager.

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(LOS ANGELES, CA) -- Los Angeles condo developers Sonny Astani and Portland, OR-based South Group blame failed Corus Bank of Chicago for placing two multi-million-dollar projects into bankruptcy and foreclosure.

Sonny Astani

Astani is suing Corus for allegedly mismanaging a $190 million construction loan for Concerto, a planned three-phase project at Figueroa and Ninth Streets.  Concerto was placed in Chapter 11 status Sept. 17.

Meanwhile, South Group's 34-story, $65 million Evo tower has been taken over by another lender.  South Group also lost the development site for Evo and two other planned 34-story towers.

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Sonia Sotomayor

(MANHATTAN, NY) -- Newly appointed U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor has no plans to leave her condo in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan for a Washington, DC condo or townhouse, she told C-SPAN television.

Sotomayor's condo is valued at about $1 million, she told the U.S. Senate when President Barack Obama nominated her to the court in May of this year.

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(LAS VEGAS, NV) -- Ron Costa of Re/Max Millennium Commercial says Canadian buyers are scooping up discounted and foreclosed Las Vegas condo units as the Vegas market grows weaker by the day.

Ron Costa

On his website, Costa says the foreclosure flu has hit Vegas hard and the short-term condo foreclosure inventory is staggering.

Pre-foreclosures in Clark County in September total 6,565 versus 5,360 in August. For the year to date, the total is 49,364.  In 2008, the figure was 33,953.  Costa claims 9 percent of all homes in Vegas are in foreclosure.

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CELEBRITY CORNER: 

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  Nicolas Cage

  Actor Nicolas Cage contracts to sell his five-room, three-bedroom, 3,550-square-foot condo on the 48th floor of the Olympic Tower on New York's Fifth Avenue. The listing price is $9.75 million. Cage bought the condo in 2005 for $5.5 million. The contract price hasn't yet been disclosed.

             

• Twitter founder Evan Williams has listed his 1,792 square-foot, two-bedroom, two-bath San Francisco penthouse in the Heublein building for $1.5 million.

• Houston Rockets owner Leslie Alexander buys a 6,321-square-foot penthouse in the Far West Village's Superior Ink Building, New York City, and then lists it for sale at $30.5 million.

                 

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