Vegas Hard Market to Crack
This year so far, Irvine-based CIP principal Real Estate has bought, in partnership with Oaktree Capital, 1M SF in Las Vegas for $115M. CIP principal Eric Smyth tells us Las Vegas is a good market to target, but it can be a little tricky for out-of-towners. Local connections are critical. It's relatively small with long-established office and industrial ownership, so very little investment-grade product comes on the market each year, Eric says. Also, rents haven’t supported new construction other than large industrial and corporate HQ facilities, which are in very short supply. (Plus, you always run the risk of becoming enchanted by Cirque du Soleil and never returning.)
Eric tells us the cost to reproduce industrial and office product in Vegas is expensive compared to other Western markets because of land prices, construction costs, and water issues, "so purchasing existing properties is typically preferred to building new projects, with the notable exception of large-box industrial buildings.” Recently, CIP sold the 153k SF Escondido Industrial Park near McCarran International Airport for $7.3M—a 74% ROI. It bought the property in ’12 for $4.2M and made renovations.
