CityCenter forms partnership with Sotheby’s to sell luxury condominiums

In an effort to drive luxury condominium sales, CityCenter has announced a partnership with Sotheby's International Realty to market The Residences at Mandarin Oriental and Veer Towers.

The collaboration, which is led by Blueprint Global Marketing in partnership with Synergy Sotheby's International Realty in Las Vegas, is geared to international buyers.

"We are confident our residential sales outreach will benefit from the global presence of Sotheby's International Realty's worldwide network of affiliates," Tony Dennis, executive vice president of CityCenter Residential Division, said in a statement. "The result, we believe, will be a strong synergy and demand by new markets as we look to the future of CityCenter."

Dennis said the prices for CityCenter's condominiums will remain above the Las Vegas market average, however, the relationship with Sotheby's allows CityCenter "to be more aggressive" in its promotions and other selling incentives.

CityCenter is half-owned by MGM Resorts International and Dubai World. MGM Resorts manages the venture, whose centerpiece is the 4,004-room Aria hotel-casino.

When the project opened in December 2009, CityCenter had 2,400 condominiums for sale. However, the recession caused sales to plummet. During several quarters, MGM Resorts took hundreds of millions of dollars in noncash write-downs on the condominium supply.

Last year, CityCenter began a rental program for both unsold and owned condominiums. At the end of last year, sales efforts for the unsold condominiums in the 1,500-unit Vdara were halted and the building now operates as a nongaming hotel.

At the Mandarin Oriental, 162 of the original 225 condominiums on the upper half of the 47-story nongaming hotel are still available, including one-, two- and three-bedroom units ranging from approximately 1,110 square feet to 4,000 square feet. Pricing starts at $975,000.

The all-residential Veer Towers has 443 units of its original 670 residences -- 335 in each of the two towers -- on the market. Studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom flats, and penthouses ranging from 500 to nearly 3,300 square feet are available with pricing starting at $350,000.

Sotheby's International Realty and Blueprint Global Marketing said an integrated marketing and sales approach would focus on Asia, South America and Canada.

Dennis said the focus on the international market is similar to the approach Miami took to revive sales in its luxury condominium market.

"The sequence of events are similar," Dennis said. "We're beginning to see signs of recovery in this market. The international buyers know our inventory comes in above the market average, but they also know about CityCenter."

According to Marc Ehrlich -- whose firm, HiRiseLiving.com, specializes in the sale of condos in buildings of more than 10 stories -- only 14 units were sold at CityCenter in 2011. MGM Resorts has opted to rent out many of the units and may be more aggressive in marketing at discounted prices, Ehrlich said.

Ehrlich said the price for high-rise condominiums in Las Vegas declined last year. Units are selling for less than $200 a square foot, compared with $350 to $400 a square foot at the height of the market.

Contact reporter Howard Stutz at hstutz@reviewjournal
.com or 702-477-3871. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.