If you read Tony Illia's latest article published by the Las Vegas Business Press, you'll arrive at the conclusion that it doesn't look good for the Verge mid-rise mixed use project in Downtown Las Vegas. We've been following this condo development closely and with an original breakground date set for summer of 2007 with nothing ever happening, we believe their should be some doubt at this point as to whether this project will ever come to fruition.

Their next contractor will be their third, their sales and marketing representative filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2007, and the City of Las Vegas has confirmed that no construction permits have yet been issued. However, I spoke directly to Verge President Darren Dunckel recently who informed me that issues with the overhead power, cable, and telephone lines are the only obstacles standing in their way and he has every hope of seeing the project through. By the way - quite honestly - I barely know Darren Dunckel and I got through to him with one phone call!

Here's what I've discovered: With all of the turmoil in the sub-prime market, and many builders walking away from future projects in Las Vegas, the developers of Verge Living have been negotiating discounted construction costs, which at this point should seem to be an obvious strategy. Remember billionaires such as Nochi Dankner (IDB) and James Packer (Crown) have followed the same strategy as the Verge "delay", and not cancelling projects as the mainstream media reports otherwise. (Remember the report on the cancelling of the Plaza Las Vegas project which was totally untrue and reported without ever consulting the project developers!). The fact of the matter is that we are in a recession fueled by an unintelligent (and perhaps irresponsible) media whose livelihood depends on sensationalizing and harming the defenseless.

Many Verge buyers I've spoken to don't seem to even mind the delays and actually are relieved to "ride out the tight credit storm" and feel "the more time, the better."

So is this project a long shot at this point? We'll just have to wait and see. Downtown Las Vegas is just screaming for product and revitalization is well underway with a tremendous amount of movement and projects. You'd be wise to visit the Downtown Las Vegas Coalition website to understand how projects like Verge may still happen despite all the obstacles they're currently facing.