Sink or swim: Lake Las Vegas must sell land to stay afloat
By Buck Wargo, In Business Las Vegas, 11/16/2007
The developer of Lake Las Vegas in Henderson is in default on a $560 million loan and has until the end of the year to find buyers for its remaining undeveloped land or the development could face foreclosure, a Lake Las Vegas official said.
A group headed by investment banker Credit Suisse has, for now, waived any default obligations, after Lake Las Vegas, the lake resort community developed by Transcontinental Corp., did not meet its debt obligation on a sales volume quota by Sept. 30, said David Cox, the chief financial officer of Lake Las Vegas.
The group of lenders has loaned Lake Las Vegas additional money to cover its operational expenses and is considering loaning even more funds to cover any shortfalls, Cox said.
Transcontinental’s cash crunch is direct fallout from the ongoing housing slump.
The latest financial woes center on buyers of the third phase of Lake Las Vegas dropping their plans to acquire land as expected, Cox said. Lake Las Vegas, although it took sizable deposits, was counting on $100 million in option payments from builders that fell through, he said.
“We had some option payments that came due, and they were not met,” Cox said. “Those guys are doing their best to find funding sources, but they are in turmoil right now. Sales have dried up (in the industry).” … [more]
by Las Vegas Managing Editor
If all the water from Lake Las Vegas were emptied into Lake Mead, it would be like pouring a gallon of water into a swimming pool.
I am always amazed that people blame Las Vegas for the dropping level of Lake Mead. The facts:
1. California gets (and uses) 15 times more Colorado River water than Nevada. Arizona roughly 4-5 times as much.
2. Up until the recent drought and Colorado river shortfalls, the Colorado ran an excess. California used ALL of the excess and was forced to stop only because of the drought and Nevada finally using all of their (very small) share.
If California had not used the excess and it was left in the river, Lake Mead and Lake Powell would still both be pretty full. (Lake Powell is getting close to empty when you compare what it holds against its capacity).
3. Many estimates put Southern California water waste at three times the amount of Colorado river that Nevada uses. (California is wasting more Colorado River water than Nevada uses).
All of this… and yet people love to blame Nevada for the levels of Lake Mead and/or western water shortages.
Side Note: The water in most Las Vegas hotel water features is gray water. People pointing to them as a “waste of water in the desert” don’t have their facts straight.
Ted Newkirk
Managing Editor
http://www.accessvegas.com
Whiskey is for drinking, water is for water wars. NV is is no stranger to water wars. Getting the facts straight is a good idea; Access Vegas could provide a real service in that regard.
Mister Newkirk never actually replied to my piece. Rather, he pirouetted and sidestepped the issue, choosing to use such sentences as: “The water in most Las Vegas hotel water features is gray water. People pointing to them as a ‘waste of water in the desert’ don’t have their facts straight.” Newkirk knows how much water is used in the running of the elite complex that is “Lake Las Vegas LLC” as well as the lake itself. I’ve “been there and seen it,” including the dam. Those several golf courses, emerald green megalawns, etc., require far more water than the “xeriscaping” imposed on those not part of the “upper crust.” Newkirk is not a water expert, nor am I. However, his flailing is a reminder that his bosses still tell him what to write and say. Why else would so few people living in Las Vegas even know about the existence of Lake Las Vegas?
Lake Las Vegas continues to exist below the radar screens of most Americans. This lake appears to hold the answer to where all that water from Lake Mead went — the water that caused that large lake level drop and caused that “bathtub ring.” This is not water being used by agriculture or home use. It is water filling a manmade luxury lake up to 145 feet deep, one mile wide and two miles long, with 10 miles of shoreline. It is water for the pleasure and whims of the ultra wealthy. How would such a huge water diversion be able to happen without the hue and cry of “environmental” groups and lawsuits filed for this or that poster “endangered” specie, unless a LOT of $$$ were being used to grease a lot of palms? How many regular folks could get away with such a scheme and not go to the hoosegow for “destroying habitat” or some other “environmental offense?”