Las Vegas Sands Adds Condos to Palazzo Plan

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LAS VEGAS-Las Vegas Sands Corp. is jumping into the high-rise residential market on the Las Vegas Strip. The publicly held operator of the Venetian Resort and the Sands Expo and Convention Center here received approval today from Clark County to add a condominium tower to plans for its $1.8-billion Palazzo project adjacent to the Venetian.

Rising at the corner of Spring Mountain Road and Las Vegas Boulevard, the Palazzo includes a 3,000-room hotel tower, the 450,000-sf Shops at the Palazzo and an 1,800-seat theater. The addition to the project approved Wednesday is a 632-foot tower to be built atop an already approved building that is slated to house an 85,000-sf Barney’s retail store among other things.

Sands’ original application called for 849 units, but in a conference call last week, Las Vegas Sands EVP Brad Stone said the condominium tower would contain 370 “ultra-luxury” units. At the commission meeting Wednesday, Sands’ said it planned to develop a maximum of 400 units, a county planning source tells GlobeSt.com.

The County Commission’s approval, which is contingent upon a formal development agreement, granted Sands several code variances. Sands received breaks on requirements for parking and for the setback for the upper portions of the tower, according to the county planning source.

Las Vegas Sands is following in the footsteps of MGM Mirage and Donald Trump, both of which have found plenty of takers for their high-rise residential product overlooking the Strip. MGM Mirage has pre-sold all but a small fraction of the 2,900 residential units it is developing in three high-rise towers as part of its $7-billion City Center development adjacent to the MGM Grand, and Trump has sold out his 1,282-unit Trump International Hotel & Tower now under construction behind the New Frontier casino.