Andrew Sasson and Laurence Hallier hope to play a role in the city's envisioned vertical development, with a plan to build two 30-story towers, each with 300 condo units along with 10 town houses, ranging in price from $350,000 to $850,000, with penthouse units ranging from $1 million to $3 million.

Sasson, a trendsetter and developer of high-end nightlife in New York City, Miami and Las Vegas, is branching out into the restaurant and condominium markets with Panorama Towers and a newly opened restaurant, FIX at Bellagio. Sasson also plans a fourth Las Vegas nightclub, at the Mirage.

Sasson's partner in Panorama Towers, Hallier, has been in the advertising and publishing business for the past 16 years, and has owned various businesses, including Show Media, a billboard company, and Sky Media, an airline media company. Hallier's Taxi Tops, a taxi advertising company, was sold to Clear Channel Inc. in 2000 for $120 million. Hallier is now owner of Hallier Investments, which has developed five apartment complexes in Las Vegas, Arizona and Texas.

Sasson and Hallier talked with In Business Las Vegas about doing business in Nevada, their local business interests, and current and future plans for Panorama Towers.

Question: Andrew, as a relative newcomer to Las Vegas what is your impression of the valley's business climate?

Andrew Sasson: Vegas is the hottest place to be right now businesswise, especially real estate-wise in the country, with the growth and type of clientele that is moving here and the type of developers that are here. It's expanding, and with such a new city there is new architecture, new types of development and there is a lot of different types of groundbreaking real estate happening here. I think it's one of the best places to be for any real estate developer or anybody who is speculating, buying or selling.

Laurence, what is your perspective?

Laurence Hallier: More than just the obvious, which is that people are moving here. We're still (one of) the fastest growing cities in the country. I think it's really become a place to live and own a second home, which it was not (several) years ago. The gambling is not the only thing people come here for anymore. Restaurants, entertainment, the shopping, the lifestyle, the cost of living, even at the prices today, are still a huge discount over anything in California. I think that's going to continue.

What about tourism, with its relatively low-paying jobs, being the basis of the economy here? Is this of concern to investors in the nightclub and real estate industries?

Sasson: Relatively low-paying jobs? Bartenders make $17 an hour with benefits, cocktails make roughly the same. I was in New York and Miami, and I think they're relatively highly paid here. The Culinary Union has done very well to make sure people are paid well and protected. It's great for the economy, it protects the employees and I think it's a good thing. I never met such a labor force so open-minded, so ready to work, so young and vibrant.

Andrew, you have several different projects in Las Vegas, nightclubs, a restaurant and planned condo towers. What attracted you to the city to begin with?

Sasson: I came here seven years ago, and I was brought here by Jason Ader, (a former gaming analyst with Bear, Stearns & Co.), who called me up and said I was in the wrong city (New York City). I spent the next five years putting proposals together trying to get opportunities to get into a position to open up a business here. I was lucky that Bobby Baldwin (chief executive and president of Mirage Resorts Inc.) was the person who made the decision to help me do it (to open Light at the Bellagio). Even though Steve Wynn (originally) helped me, Bobby said, go ahead and do it. I got lucky. I met with a lot of guys who'd been here many years and I sat with them and I got a lot of great advice on what Vegas was, and that's how it went down.

Vegas has gone through evolutions in its nightclubs. What do you see in the future for Vegas nightclubs?

Sasson: Vegas has a huge lack of product in nightlife entertainment. You have the best restaurants in the world, best shows, best hotel rooms, best concierges, best spas, but the nightlife is really poor. And now there's been resurgence in the past three, four years -- products have come in that are better and are improving. New products make everybody else better. Instead of casino corporations defining young people as a whole, now they are looking at independent guys like us who can separate them and understand how to package different nightlife products for different demographics inside casinos, for both young and old. Eventually Las Vegas will get to the point where it will have the best nightlife products in the world. At the moment they're not quite there.

You have a nightclub opening up at the Mirage? When is that going to open?

Sasson: January. That's another indication of how we separate our marketplace. A certain demographic will go to Light and a certain demographic will go to The Mirage. There is some crossover, but it has to be different. I'm not saying my products are so great, because in the big scheme of things my product at Light is very simple. There are some other great products here that have great products. And we're trying to do something at The Mirage for a demographic that we don't really get at Light.

FIX recently opened at the Bellagio, what can people expect?

Sasson: There's only one other place that I'd say is fun, entertaining dining for me in Las Vegas, and that's Nine (Steakhouse at the Palms). There is room for another fine entertaining dining venue. We'll try and supply a product as good and really supply something where people can go out (and be comfortable), instead of being all stiff, or being in shorts and T-shirts. There's no middle ground and there has to be some middle ground.

Building a condo tower is very different than owning and managing nightclubs and restaurants. What led you into the Las Vegas condo market?

Sasson: First, I couldn't find anywhere to live. Everything was tract housing, nothing had good access to the Strip, nothing I felt was secure for my money and I couldn't find something I was happy with. Then I looked at Park Towers, and (that) was out of my price range. I was drinking one night in my bar, taking a night off, sitting next to a customer (Hallier), and we started talking. We're both salesmen, both have great marketing ideas, both wanted to have a good time and we both had in common we couldn't find anywhere to live. We decided to go and purchase some land and do a housing complex that had some fun and style to it. (Hallier) came up with the idea and said we should do a condo tower where people like us can live and be happy.

Tell me about the project, what is the timeline and where is the financial backing coming from?

Hallier: There's always been two towers. Initially we promoted just one tower. We purchased the property -- I actually had my offices there for seven years before Andrew came along and said that was the best site. Ironically, we thought that was going to be our biggest objection (that it's on Industrial Road), but actually it's been our biggest asset -- the views are incredible. The other side to it is the traffic. There's no traffic on this side. The towers are 30 stories, 430 feet high. (The project is financed by Hallier and Sasson, and construction financing is through Corus Bank based in Chicago. Construction of the first tower was scheduled to begin July 1, with demolition work of existing office and industrial buildings scheduled to start this week, Hallier said.)

How have sales gone? Are there actual signed contracts?

Hallier: The first tower is completely sold out, actual contracts.

Who is buying these condos?

Hallier: We have a mixture. There certainly is a very strong presence of second-home buyers from California and the East Coast and all the major cities. That's a big part of our market. But we also have young professionals, young couples, empty nesters, people moving here permanently that have bought in our project.

Sasson: The first people we went after were the Las Vegas people. We don't want to build a deserted building. We're trying to develop a whole area here.

You've said in past interviews that the tower will include retail, such as a grocery store, and even a movie theater. Are those plans still in the works?

Sasson: You need some services for the building. I want a bacon, egg and cheese in the morning, or a cup of coffee, a grocery store with health food, something that's a little bit upper grade. (There are plans to put in a) deli/coffee/supermarket (combination). As we grow we will put different retail things in to supply and create a whole environment here.

Do you think that a retail component is really feasible, considering the largely commercial/industrial area you are building in?

Sasson: You've got 250,000 cars going down (Interstate) 15, there's retail slap-dab on Industrial. In the morning on the way to work you're going to stop for a coffee, stop for a sandwich. There're offices around here -- this has density plus it has exposure. It's about branding it and building it, and I think it's going to do a fantastic business. It would serve everybody.

How will your company compete against others such as Turnberry Associates, which specializes in luxury condo towers, or Park Towers?

Sasson: Turnberry is the best at it, they're incredible at building condominiums, but it's a cookie cutter style format and they have a certain demographic and they go for it. We don't compete in their market, they don't compete in ours. Park Towers is an entity to itself, 80 units, super high-end, the wealthiest of the wealthiest. We offer a lifestyle, we offer value for money, we offer location, we offer access, we offer whole different packages than what Turnberry offers. What both of us have proved (is that) there's enough business for Turnberry and us here to thrive and succeed.

There have been dozens of announcements about planned condo towers in the Las Vegas area. Do you think the market is deep enough to support all these projects?

Sasson: (They) aren't built yet, right?

But neither is yours.

Sasson: That's true. We'll wait and see, when we're all built, fine. Mine isn't built, theirs isn't built. I guarantee you this, ours is going to be built, and we can't make a comment on everybody else.

There has been a surge in construction supply costs. Do prices for construction materials such as steel and cement have a negative effect?

Hallier: They're definitely much higher than when we budgeted this project. It's a difficult situation. In the end, one of the reasons I partnered with Andrew is we wanted a phenomenal product for people to live in, and it's really true that we both built that for ourselves. We're definitely going to spend the money to build the right building and a beautiful product.

Jennifer Shubinski covers real estate and development for In Business Las Vegas and its sister publication, the Las Vegas Sun. She can be reached at (702) 259-8832 or by e-mail at js@lasvegassun.com