Elvis Lived in the First Las Vegas High-Rise Condo
Posted by - February 1st, 2008
Categories: High Rise Condos
Elvis would have turned 73 this past January. Many fans commemorated his birthday by laying flowers around his bronze statue at the Las Vegas Hilton. It was here (formerly the International Hotel and Casino), that Elvis sold out over 800 consecutive shows in the 1970’s. During his historic run Elvis lived in a specially designed penthouse suite that was for all all practical purposes the first Las Vegas high-rise condo, this hotel occupied the entire top floor of the hotel that at the time was the largest in the world.
Las Vegas Hilton and the former, Elvis Penthouse Suite
When the run ended for Elvis in 1976, it would be another 20 years before Las Vegas high-rise condominiums would make a formal debut in city. It was Turnberry and associates who bought the vacant desert between the Las Vegas Hilton and the Strip. They announced plans for 4 forty story towers. These towers would encircle a lavish private club for use by the residents of Turnberry Place. The Stirling Club.
The Stirling Club at Turnberry Place
Condominium market slow to evolve in Vegas
Critics were quick to question the logic of building residential luxury condominiums in a city know for cheap accommodations and 99cent shrimp cocktails. To the surprise of many the units in the initial tower were purchased by part time residents or frequent visitors who wanted a place to call there own while in town. Many were tired of the mostly mediocre hotels that dominated the Strip.
Just prior to the first of the towers going vertical, a hotel executive from Harrahs (Steve Wynn) stepped out on his own and built a world class theme resort with lavish amenities and an exploding volcano. “The Mirage”. This stunning high end resort and casino would start a building boom that for the most part continues to this day. It has redefined the city. The result is present day Las Vegas, the most popular resort destination in the world.
Turnberry Place, adjacent to the Las Vegas Hilton
Wynn “Encore” under construction background center
As Turnberry was ready to break ground on its fourth and final tower, the real estate frenzy of the of the early 2000’s was hitting a fevered pitch. Multiple high-rise condo developments were announced. Some were for real. Most were not. Many were land grabs. Speculators bought land, announced plans for multi-million dollar developments, then pulled the plug and flipped the land. Some made staggering profits in the process.
The end result is that the price of land in the resort corridor (on and near the Strip) has skyrocketed in the last 5 years, Recent acquisitions of prime strip frontage have reached a staggering $34million per acre. Don’t expect prices here to retreat simply because of the supply demand equation, the supply has vaporized. Virtually all of the remaining large tracks of build-able land are now in the hands of mega-billion dollar resort developers.
What is left from the high-rise wreckage? Actually, very little. In the prime Strip area, residential Luxury high-rise market (non condo hotel), we are left with Turnberry Place, Sky Las Vegas, and Turnberry Towers. Currently MGM Mirage CityCenter has several residential offerings in the pipeline including Veer Towers, the Harmon Hotel and Mandarin Oriental. Look for these to come on line in late 2009.
The point to all this is despite the general public perception, there is not a lot of pure residential Las Vegas high-rise condo product. A growing city the size of Las Vegas will certainly have significant demand for high-rise housing in the Resort Corridor.
Back to Elvis and his legacy in Las Vegas
The Las Vegas Hilton and the Elvis suite survive to this day despite the ongoing trend of “implode and rebuild”. The property is a absolute cash cow… It has a strategic location adjacent to the largest convention center in the world. This is not to say that there won’t be significant pressure to redevelop the property in the future. The Hilton sits on a sizable chunk of real estate that continues to escalate in value.
Don’t expect the Elvis craze in Las Vegas to fade anytime soon, remember, there are a significant number of fans who believe that Elvis is not dead! If anything Elvis and his mythical attachment to Las Vegas are growing… Plans are in the works for a Elvis themed resort on the Strip. In December, 2008 at the Las Vegas Marathon event planners are hoping to set world record by having over 100 contestants complete the 26.2 mile race dressed in Elvis Garb.
Elvis was buried at Graceland in the fall of 1977. May he rest in peace.
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We are Tom Garcia and Amy Garcia of Luxury Realty Group and the Garcia Group (702)360-6645
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