Luxury Real Estate News

Las Vegas land has “no underlying value;” Morgan Stanley involved in a Chinese land scandal; the Miami condo king battles to stay afloat; another Spanish real estate scandal comes to light; a piece of Greek history goes up for sale at 350 million Euros, and Jewel sells a house.

The Las Vegas Sun reports that some Las Vegas residential land has no value and it’s only going to get worse, according to Craig Cherney, director of Western operations of Philadelphia-based American Land Fund, a private equity land acquisition group that buys raw land and gets zoning and other government approvals. “Until the valley works off the immense overhand of foreclosures of resale properties, I see no reason why residential land demand would improve or otherwise increase in value,” says Cherney. Las Vegas Sun.

Morgan Stankey joins the ranks of disgraced financial institutions along with the Royal Bank of Scotland, and Pricewaterhousecoopers. RBS are staring down the largest loss in British corporate history, although you do have to give the British government credit for distracting everyone’s attention away from the £400 billion cost of bailing them out by allowing the ex-CEO an enormous pension and then making a fuss about it. £400 billion is the type of sum that is never going to be repaid, yet the only headlines are Sir Fred’s pension fund. Pricewaterhousecoopers are still waiting to see how much jail time will be handed out to their scapegoats in India. Back to Morgan Stanley -  in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, MS said it had fired an executive in its China real estate division after uncovering evidence that he might have violated the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which bars American business people from bribing foreign officials, reports the New York Times. Talk about being thrown to the wolves, although I don’t think it is a capital offence to bribe a government official in China; more a cultural necessity.

Speaking of bribing government officials, another scandal in the Spanish property markets comes to light, yet again involving the local Mayor, this one in Alcaucín in Málaga. The mayor is currently under arrest along with his two daughters and several other accomplices for selling illegally built homes to foregners. Sensibly, he stashed the money under his mattress – € 160,000 of it anyway.

The Rock of Skaros, site of an ancient palace on Santorini Island in Greece has been placed up for sale at €350 million. The promontory at Skaros has been shaken repeatedly by strong earthquakes. Historical sources say that earthquakes during the eruptions of 1650, 1701 to 1711, and 1866 to 1870 caused considerable damage. The Venetian noble families that lived there decided to leave after the eruptions of 1707 to 1711. Included in the sale is more than 25 hectares (62 acres) of land. Not sure if this one if kosher or not, because a free listing site seems an odd marketing choice for a property of this value, but if you have always wanted to buy an investment property in Greece, take a look.

The “Miami Condo King,” (or one of them anyway) Jorge Pérez is battling to survive the real estate slump, according to the Miami Herald. The Cuban immigrant made the South Florida skyline his canvas, erecting high-rises from Miami to West Palm Beach.

But not one of them can compare to his latest creation, the ICON Brickell, a sumptuous $1 billion glass-and-concrete city within a city that includes three soaring towers, a pool the size of a football field, 1,640 condos, a boutique hotel and five restaurants. It is Florida’s most spectacular condo, Pérez’s masterpiece, his legacy. And, now, it may be his undoing. Miami Herald.

And on a brighter note, singer-songwriter Jewels has manged to sell her Hollywoord Hills house, according to Big Time Listings.