LAS VEGAS-The developers of the Sky Las Vegas condominium tower that opened near the Circus Circus resort at the north end of the Las Vegas Strip this spring sold one of its remaining penthouse units in "gray shell" condition for $2.7 million. Including a 500-sf balcony, the unit totals 3,500 sf, according to the developer. The buyer, from San Francisco, will invest an undisclosed amount to customize the unit, which is on the 42nd floor of the 44-story building.

Sky Las Vegas, which opened to residents in April, has approximately 10% of its 409 units still available for purchase. The size range of the remaining units is 870 sf to 5,500 sf and the price range is $700,000 to $5 million. Ezra International Realty has the sales assignment. The project also includes 43,500 sf of retail space and 702 parking spaces.

The project is a development of Sky Las Vegas Condominium Inc., a company jointly owned by David Pourbaba, M. Aaron Yashouafar and Solyman Yashouafar. Aaron Yashouafar is chief executive officer of Milbank Real Estate Services Inc., a Los Angeles-based real estate services firm. Pourbaba is the founder and president of 4D Development, a California-based development company. Sky Las Vegas' director of sales and marketing, Gina Jackson, did not return phone calls seeking comment.

The project was built with $216.3 million in construction financing from Hypo Real Estate Capital Corp. The loan closed in September 2005. The New York City-based subsidiary of Stuttgart-based Hypo Real Estate Bank International AG and Munich-based Hypo Real Estate Bank AG subsequently syndicated $121.3 million of its construction loan. Four financial institutions were involved.

In May, the locally based research and advisory firm reported that for the first time since the condo boom began here in 2003, the number of condos completed, planned and deleted has declined. At the end of the first quarter, the total was 97,800, down from 98,400 at the start of the year, according to the report.

Company principal Brian Gordon said land owners and developers are dealing with conservative reactions by the investment community and potential buyers in response to recent reports that a supply-demand imbalance is inevitable. "The vast majority of units in the [construction] pipeline have been sold and their total is exponentially higher than the present market inventory," he said. "While it would have been an unreasonable expectation to believe that all of the projects in the development pipeline would enter the market as planned, it would be equally questionable to conclude that resort and residential condominiums are a passing fad."

Of the total, 4,200 units are completed, 13,400 were under construction and 9,584 were in pre-sales. Another 56,300 units were entitled but had yet to begin pre-marketing or sales activity, while 14,300 units had been suspended or cancelled. Of the 23,000 units under construction or in pre-sales, about half are condo-hotels, which is to say they have some sort of rental program.

One thing slowing pre-sales of new projects are re-sales of recently completed units. As of the end of March, an estimated 754 existing (resale) luxury units were on the market. Those units had an average asking price of $803,900, or $622 per sf. The average price of those that have sold is $764,500, or $537 per sf.