Panorama Towers developer thinks condo will fetch fortune in future

Call him a dreamer, but Panorama Towers developer Laurence Hallier is convinced somebody can make $10 million in the next three to five years on the purchase of his three-level, 7,000-square-foot "chairman's penthouse," advertised in the Las Vegas Review-Journal for $2.8 million.

The luxury condo is easily visible from Interstate 15 as the architectural hole in the 23rd, 24th and 25th floors of Panorama's first tower. With 24-foot windows and a 1,500-square-foot patio, the unit offers views of the Strip and the $8.5 billion CityCenter project.

The unit is being sold as a "gray shell," which means the interior needs finishing.

But seriously, $10 million in three to five years?

"It's really simple," Hallier said. "Those types of houses or condos, whatever you call them, you cannot reproduce them. It costs $500 a (square) foot in concrete just to build this tower. In good times, you can charge whatever you want because there's no comp (comparable sale) in town."

Somebody's going to "steal" this unit, spend $1 million to finish it and turn around in three or four years and sell it for $12 million, Hallier said. It was originally listed for $11.5 million, and Hallier said he turned down $7.5 million when the market was booming.

"There's no guarantee, but with patience and build-out, somebody will make a ton of money," he said. "That penthouse will sell to someone with $200 million to $300 million who wants to show it off and the price is not going to matter."

Chet Nichols, chief executive officer of Re-Group and C-Nic Developments, said most luxury condos in Las Vegas never should have been built, given the cost to build and operate them. He was formerly executive vice president of Amland Development, developer of One Las Vegas, a high-rise condo on south Las Vegas Boulevard that was recently taken back by the lender.

There was no basis or history for these projects to be conceived or constructed, other than easy financing that seduced both investors and developers, he said.

"At the end of the day, these condos are simply dwellings and as such, they have to compete with the glut of houses and apartments that are on the market," Nichols said. "And the market for all products is going to be very difficult for quite some time to come."

Contact reporter Hubble Smith at hsmith@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0491.