Las Vegas Commercial Real Estate Wrap-Up – July 2020

Las Vegas Strip. Image via Pixabay.com

Although Las Vegas has borne the brunt of the pandemic’s effects, investment activity continued on a steady path. The industrial sector has largely avoided the worst, however, as tenants continued to lease space and developers took advantage of construction being listed as an essential service early on. While the government permitted commercial eviction proceedings to resume at the start of July, state authorities softened the blow by setting aside $20 million in rental assistance for businesses. Here is our July list of Las Vegas must-reads:

1. M&A – Eldorado and Caesars finalize $17.3 billion merger.

Under the Caesars Entertainment Inc. name, the firm became the largest casino and entertainment company in the world. The company owns and operates eight casinos on the Strip, including Caesars Palace, Harrah’s Las Vegas, Paris Las Vegas and Planet Hollywood. Caesars owns more than 55 properties in 16 states and five countries.

2. DEAL – Moonwater Capital pays $33.4 million for office asset.

Dekel Capital arranged a $35 million financing package for the purchase of the 262,000-square-foot NV Energy Pearson Building from Davidson Kempner Capital Management. The debt includes a $23.8 million loan from Washington Federal Bank and joint venture equity. The property previously traded in 2018 as part of a $726 million portfolio sale from Lexington Realty Trust. Located on 13 acres at 6226 W. Sahara Ave., the four-story property was completed in 1983.

3. LEASING – Colliers selected to lease industrial project.

Miltson Consulting chose the firm’s Willmore Industrial Team to oversee marketing and leasing efforts for The Mountain West Industrial Park, a 500,000-square-foot project. The developer broke ground on the first phase of the property on July 17. The property will include four multi-tenant warehouses with 30-foot clear heights, an ESFR sprinkler system and cold storage. Situated at the northeast corner of South Tenaya Way and West Post Road, the site is 9 miles west of McCarran International Airport.

4. SUSTAINABILITY – Joint venture kicks off solar project.

Switch, in partnership with Capital Dynamics, began work at three sites, continuing the development of Rob Roy’s Gigawatt Nevada solar and battery project. The companies will invest $1.3 billion and create more than 1,000 new jobs, according to Governor Sisolak. The sites will use thousands of solar panels produced by First Solar and Tesla Megapack battery storage. Dubbed Gigawatt 1, the project will provide 555 megawatts of solar power and have 800 megawatts of battery storage capacity.

5. LEASING – JLL brings industrial facility to full occupancy.

Jason Simon, Rob Lujan and Xavier Wasiak negotiated three leases totaling 90,518 square feet at Harsch Investment Properties’ Speedway Commerce Center IV, a 168,000-square-foot building. Ampart LLC signed a 45,455-square-foot lease, Draken International will occupy 23,937 square feet and Cascadia Vehicle Tents will take up 21,126 square feet at the property. Delivered earlier this year, the warehouse is located at 6101 N. Hollywood Blvd.

6. DEAL – VanTrust sells Reckitt Benckiser facility for $45.2 million.

The Moulton Co. acquired the 322,560-square-foot industrial property, according to public records. The seller and developer broke ground on the facility in May 2019, delivering it 10 months later. The single-story building is on 18 acres at 4800 E. Tropical Parkway. The warehouse is part of the Northgate Distribution Center, a master planned industrial park spanning 180 acres and encompassing 3.5 million square feet.