Echelon at Centennial Hills condos taking shape

Sheetrock is being hung inside and stucco is going on the facade. Elevators are installed and the first 62 residential units should be completed and ready for occupancy in March, Aizenberg said.

Echelon was named most innovative development at an international real estate exhibition in England, which Aizenberg said best describes the principle behind the project’s design.

“Echelon is bringing a different kind of living to the Las Vegas Valley,” he said. “It’s the urban form of living I saw in San Francisco, the high-rises some of my family lived in. It was a wonderful way of life with trash chutes, so you never have to take the garbage out. The convenience was phenomenal.”

Upon completion, the 15-acre development will have 372 residential units in six buildings with subterranean parking. Floor plans range from 1,000 square feet to more than 4,000 square feet in the penthouses. Prices run from about $400,000 to $1.5 million.

Amenities include a two-way holographic fireplace, gourmet kitchen, computer alcove, walk-in closets and extended terraces. Residents will have access to private garden areas, a two-story clubhouse with exercise room, swimming pools, spas and tennis and basketball courts.

Royal Construction is the general contractor and Studio 111, a division of Perkowitz & Ruth Architects, is the architect of record.

Aizenberg, founder of Las Vegas-based Spinnaker Homes in 1993 and president of Royal Construction, said he was able to secure financing for the project because of his reputation among local bankers and because he formulated his market research.

Aizenberg recognizes the challenge of building during a downturn in the housing market, but said he’s survived 22 percent interest rates, the Gulf War and other economic periods of recession.

“I operate under a cloud of fear 24-seven,” he said. “Am I worried about building? Building is not the challenge right now. Marketing is the challenge. We’ve had to switch gears in marketing. We’re targeting upwardly mobile couples and retirees.”

He said the first building is about 20 percent sold and at one time had 88 reservations.

“I don’t count reservations. That’s the ex-banker in me,” Aizenberg said.

PAXTON WALK: Sales have been suspended at Paxton Walk, a $200 million mixed-use condo development planned near Centennial Parkway and Tenaya Way.

Deirdre Waitt, president of Woodland Hills, Calif.-based Blue Marble Development, said sales had been slower than anticipated and the project is being delayed until market indicators improve.

“The 31 acres in Centennial Hills is A-quality property and we’re very excited about the project,” Waitt said. “We could start discounting and offering incentives and slashing prices, which is what everybody else is doing, but then we’re selling an A-quality product at C-quality pricing. We decided to suspend sales and suspend the project until we can get A-quality pricing. Otherwise, we felt we were shortchanging our project.”

Blue Marble owns the land outright and is looking to acquire other land in the valley, she said.

“We feel strongly that the market will rebound. We don’t know when,” she said.

Paxton Walk is planned for nearly 2 million square feet of residential and commercial space, including 782 condominiums.

BROKER MERGER: Cushman & Wakefield, a privately held commercial real estate brokerage with an office in Las Vegas, has reached an agreement to acquire Burnham Real Estate, according to the firm’s Web site. Terms of the agreement, scheduled to close in January, weren’t disclosed.

Burnham has operated as an independent firm in San Diego for 116 years and posted $2.6 billion in transactions.

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