The village idiot of Las Vegas talks about strip land values and Asian gaming...

The Echelon was a planned mega-resort on the Las Vegas strip that mothballed in 2008 due to the recession -- Fast forward to present day -- A Malaysian gaming company recently purchased the skeleton and the 87 acres it sits on for 350 million dollars. Their intentions, according to the newspaper, are to build an Asian themed mega-resort with a replica of the Great Wall of China running through the middle of it. The paper also stated that they were intending a capital investment of two to seven billion over a four year stretch.

Here's something to gnaw on; the Asians paid 350 million dollars for 87 acres of North strip land (a skeleton of what was intended to be the Echelon is included in the purchase). The last major purchase of raw land on the strip (prior to the Asians) was 2006. An Israeli group paid 1.2 billion for 33 acres right next door to the Echelon. The market tanked right after the purchase and the land has set empty since. Let's do the math:

350 million (the price the Asians paid)/ 87 (amount of acreage purchased)=4 million per acre. Now take into consideration what the Israelis paid for 33 acres of comparable strip land in 2006 -- 1.2 billion (price paid in 2006)/ 33 (amount of acres purchased)=36 million per acre.

Compare and contrast: The Asians paid roughly 4 million dollars an acre for strip land in today's market while the Israeli group paid close to 36 million an acre in 2006. Off the top of my head; I'm calculating an 80-90 percent drop in strip land value compared to boom prices. Yikes!!

Macau is an island 30 minutes away from Hong Kong. A few years back the Chinese government deregulated the gaming market there; thus allowing a number of new gaming companies to set-up shop. Macau's 2012 gaming revenue number (40 billion) was six times greater than Las Vegas'. I have a theory about Macau and why it will be good for Las Vegas: The Asian gaming dollar is so massive and promising that it will eventually bleed back to Las Vegas. If you take into consideration the recent purchase of strip land by the Asians; my theory begins to make sense.

I like to end every post of mine with a thought I'm having...Call it the village idiot thought of the day. "I received some good news today. My father and brother are coming to Las Vegas at the first of the month to visit me for my birthday. I'm looking forward to it."