ZZZ - GMG - VEGAS INC 2011-2014

technology With drone testing, state expects job opportunities to soar By Karoun Demirjian staff writer Two years of work preceded the Dec. 30 announcement that Nevada had received the Federal Aviation Administration's drone test designation, positioning the state to become a hotbed for commercialization of the unmanned aerial vehicle industry. But now that Nevada has won its hard-fought bid, the question is ... now what? "It would be like saying in the Civil War days, what's the railroad going to be like?" said Sen. Harry Reid, DNev., one of the project's biggest boosters, in an interview following the announcement. "It's in its infancy, and I think we can speculate. But I really don't know." Nevada based its bid on a number of factors, which its authors repeated with the punctuation of vindication: The state has large stretches of rural areas, more than 320 days of clear skies per year and more restricted airspace than all other 49 states combined. In other words, the state is ready to fly. But the bid's backers admitted that it would take a lot of doing to actually get from the approved bid to drones in the sky over 180 days — the amount of time the FAA has given Nevada to get its test operations off the ground. "It will remain a competitive process throughout," said Steve Hill, head of the Nevada Governor's Office of Economic Development. "But it is a real opportunity." The state's political, educational, research and business leaders are salivating over what they predict will be a $2.5 billion opportunity to bring 12,000 to 15,000 jobs to the state, at an average income of $62,000. drones are coming: This image shows the so-called Prime Air unmanned aircraft project that Amazon is working on. Gov. Brian Sandoval sees the designation as one of only six "anchor tenant(s)" for the commercial drone industry as a long-awaited engine of economic diversification. "It will open up a whole new world to the people of our state for education and job opportunities," Sandoval said following the announcement. "This is a day that 10 years from now and 20 years from now, we'll look back on and see that it really changed the trajectory of our economic development efforts." Amazon But there are some less lofty first steps to take before any UAVs get off the ground. There is a contract to sign with the FAA. The state also must submit an action plan to the FAA and get the agency to certify it. Then there's the matter of bringing in the companies that will actually do the work, contracting their projects, and dividing up the airspace they'll need to use in the four test zones: Boulder City Municipal Airsee drones, page 8 real estate Downtown's Ogden, Juhl among properties acquired in deal By Eli Segall staff writer Some of the more stylish residential buildings in Las Vegas are under new ownership, several years after the recession dented their financial health. ST Residential has sold Juhl and the Ogden — two downtown high-rises — along with One Las Vegas, Loft 5 and Spanish Palms Condominiums for $237 million combined. The bulk sale closed on Dec. 24, Clark County records show. New York's Dune Real Estate Partners teamed with KRE Capital of Beverly Hills, Calif., to buy the buildings, prop| 13 JANUARY 2014 20140113_VI07_F.indd 7 | erty records indicate. The sale documents list KRE's address for the buyers, whose registrations with the Nevada Secretary of State are linked to Dune. Meanwhile, a person familiar with the matter described the deal as a "Dune acquisition." Efforts to speak with KRE founder Matt Khoury prior to publication Jan. 3 were unsuccessful. Dune executives did not return a call seeking comment. ST Residential President Jon Pertchik would not immediately comment. ST apparently has been trying to sell the buildings since January 2013 as part of a portfolio of 13 multifamily complexes in eight states. Last year, the portfolio was valued at almost $1 billion, according to ST. Corus Bank in Chicago had issued construction loans for these and other projects nationwide, but government regulators closed the bank in September 2009 amid a nationwide purge of struggling lenders. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. sold a 40 percent stake in Corus' real estate loans to privateequity investors, keeping the remaining 60 percent for the government, according to Bloomberg News. The investors created ST to manage the Corus properties. In Las Vegas, ST took charge of Juhl, 353 E. Bonneville Ave.; the Ogden, 150 Las Vegas Blvd. North; One Las Vegas, 8255 Las Vegas Blvd. South; Loft 5, 2715 W. Pebble Road; and Spanish Palms, 5250 S. Rainbow Blvd. The Ogden, a mix of rental units and individually owned condos, is the residential mothership of downtown's tech scene. Among others, Tony Hsieh, CEO of online retailer Zappos, lives there and puts up visitors and startups in the building. 7 1/9/14 1:25:20 PM

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