St. Regis Residences First for Las Vegas

Las Vegas Sands has reached an agreement with Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. to develop The St. Regis Residences at the Venetian Palazzo, Las Vegas, a collection of 398 private luxury residences, introducing the St. Regis brand to Las Vegas. The residential project is currently under construction between Las Vegas Sands' Palazzo and Venetian resorts on the Las Vegas Strip.

Anticipated to open in March 2010, the St. Regis Residences will offer butler service, custom tailored experiences and luxury accommodations. The interiors of the residences are being designed to offer the option to purchase a fully-furnished "move-in ready" residence with furniture packages from several world-renowned designers. Residences will range in size from 1,700 to over 10,000 sq ft for a duplex villa with private pool. Total sales for all units could reach as much as $2 billion.

New Luxury Apartments under Construction in Henderson

Fore Property Co. (FORE) started construction on a 310-unit Class-A community in Henderson. Situated on 15.5 acres, the apartment community is located less than a mile from the intersection of Interstate 215 and North Stephanie Street, on the corner of American Pacific Drive and Quest Park Street. Just west of the community is the Arroyo Grande Sports Complex, a 60-acre park, which includes ball fields, barbecues, tennis courts, walking paths and a variety of other park amenities.

The luxury development will consist of three-story, garden-style buildings featuring one-, two- and three-bedroom apartment homes. Two story lofts with direct access garages will also be available. The units will range in size from 739 to 1,258 sq ft and will offer upscale interior features. Residents will have access to the community's 5,500-sq-ft clubhouse which will include a health club, media room, business center and resort-style swimming pool.

FORE expects to begin leasing the first available units in September 2009.

Bank of George Settles in Henderson

Groundbreaking ceremony for the Bank of George Henderson Regional Branch

Bank of George broke ground on its new Henderson Regional Branch. The community business bank is expanding to serve the southeast area of the Valley. The new bank, at St. Rose Parkway and Seven Hills Drive, will be ready for occupancy in April.

Julie Brutch will be the regional branch president. The general contractor for the Bank of George Henderson Regional Branch is Nigro Development.

Lake Las Vegas to Enter into $127 Million Post-Petition Financing Agreement

Lake Las Vegas received court approval to enter into a $127 million debtor-in-possession financing agreement. Lake at Las Vegas Joint Venture LLC, the master developer of the Lake Las Vegas Resort, had reached a consensual agreement with various creditors and the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors on the terms of the $127 million facility from a group of lenders led by Credit Suisse as agent.

The company said that the new financing would be used in part to fund ongoing operations and assessments related to certain pre-petition obligations, including critical repairs to the Las Vegas Wash bypass conduit underlying the 320-acre man-made lake at the center of the approximately 3,600 acre master-planned community. Additionally the company says it will work to satisfy certain of its financial and infrastructure-related obligations.

LLV Holdco LLC, a subsidiary of Las Vegas-based Atalon Group, assumed ownership and management control of the master-planned community in early January 2008 after the former ownership group defaulted on approximately $540 million in loans in 2007.

The company says that the DIP facility assures that there will be no interruption in day-to-day operations, adding that employees will continue to receive their wages and be entitled to benefits as if there had been no filing.

World Market Center Building C Complete

The PENTA Building Group has completed the third building and parking garage of the World Market Center Las Vegas.

PENTA completed the $550 million, 2.1 million-sq-ft building in 18 months. Built on five acres adjacent to Buildings A and B, the 16-story, steel-framed structure features 34 escalators and 16 elevators. At 130,000 sq ft per floor, it is the largest and most diversified of the buildings that currently comprise the 57-acre World Market Center Las Vegas complex.

PENTA self-performed all concrete work on the project, pouring 27,000 cu yds for the building's map foundation - completed in three sections that took eight hours apiece. Approximately 194 sets of anchor bolt clusters were placed in the foundation, ranging from 3 ft to more than 5 ft in length. Another 38,000 cu yds of concrete were poured to form the floors.

The entire project consists of 17,500 tons of steel. Building C's structural frame was assembled from steel columns rolled in Germany - the largest of which measured longer than 57 ft and weighed 24 tons. SME Steel was the project’s steel subcontractor.

Adjacent to Building C, the seven-story parking garage is 700 ft long, 250 ft wide, and features more than 3,600 parking stalls and six access elevators.

JMA served as architect for the project.

Completion of Office/Retail Pecos Building in Henderson

United Construction has completed the Pecos Building, a $2 million office/retail project located in Henderson.

The 24,732-sq-ft, two-story wood frame building consists of two components. The first floor houses multiple retail tenants, and the 10,981-sq-ft space was speculatively built out into three units allowing for move-in ready space for new tenants. The second floor offers 12,971 sq ft of office space, designed for single or multiple tenants. The building features expansive window areas that offer views of Henderson, and the stucco structure includes cultured stone accents.

Mertz Properties is the developer of the project and Dekker/Perrich/Sabatini is the architect of record.

To submit news items and press releases, please email to: scott_blair@mcgraw-hill.com