Centex Pulls Plug on Short-Lived Urban Village Las Vegas Condo Project

Don't let the sign in the picture fool you.

It looks like another mixed-use development in Las Vegas has seen better days. Urban Village, a 50-acre $1 billion dollar project proposed by Centex Destination Properties, has stopped sales and closed their sales office. The project had 75 reservations in at their first phase, out of 300 total units priced between $360,000 to $760,000. I bet I know 75 people who don't read this blog, because as mentioned time and time again, it doesn't matter what phase you get into with a project that won't get built - you're going to come out a loser if the project fundamentals and development backgrounds don't make sense.

This project never really got off the ground in the first place and certainly you'll see more projects cancelled in the near future. What's interesting is that news such as this isn't necessarily bad. In fact, as projects fall by the wayside and every other project in town fails except yours, then you're looking great since you'll own a successful asset in a market of high demand and low supply.

Urban Village put out a very nice press release explaining why the project was being discontinued. But the bottom line is people don't fall for time delays and publicity stunts that inject superficial interest in any project, such as when then-owner Philippe Pageau Goyette acquired the land and in April 2005, had led a mile-long convoy of construction trucks and equipment to the construction site to make it seem like construction was starting on the project, which was scheduled to begin in June, 2005. That may work in France, but after delays and delays - and as CSI reminds us every week: "we won't get fooled again". He then sold the land to Centex, who paid approximately $38 million for 15 acres and an option to buy the rest.

And speaking of being fooled again, Pageau Goyette is also the developer of Club Renaissance, which has also closed it's doors and has yet to begin construction after a similar groundbreaking event. He sold that land to Centex as well.

If only we all had a Centex in our life to bail us out of failed projects, and making us rich in the process!