John Paulson, best known as a hedge fund manager for the Raintree Investment Corporation, has purchased more than 875 acres of land at Lake Las Vegas for a total of $17.3 million. This information was released by a source that was close to the deal. The land lies in a hilly area of the North shore, commonly known as Rainbow Canyon. Of the land that was purchased, a little over half of it is considered to be developable. In total, there was a recent piece of legislation passed by the city of Henderson that would allow up to 3500 homes to be built on the land that was purchased. The area is surrounded by a number of high-profile resorts and casinos, which make it an attractive place for people to settle if they are looking to move to the Las Vegas area. Recent home builders research has stated that the land will be able to be sold at $200,000 an acre, which will likely be 10 times that of the sales price.
In all, Lake Las Vegas is more than 3600 acres. It was originally conceived by developer Ron Boeddeker, who had to abandon the project when he filed for bankruptcy in 2009. There are total of three develop courses on the land, however two of them are closed at this time. Only one, the South Shores golf club is currently available for play.
A Ritz-Carlton also opened at Lake Las Vegas in 2003, but much like the developer, they filed for bankruptcy in 2008 and eventually went on to close. The entirety of Lake Las Vegas looks like an abandoned town at this point, with many different attractions having gone out of business. Perhaps this investment by John Paulson shows that he believes that they are going to be able to revive the area, and bring it back to profit once again. Although, the area is not currently in development as the resort attraction that it once was, turning it into a residential area could be a solid plan.
John Paulson also owns or holds interests in a number of other Las Vegas in Nevada businesses including MGM resorts international and Caesars entertainment. Paulson became a billionaire in 2007 when he was able to play against and leverage the failing of the US subprime mortgage market.