Author: JD

I’VE SEEN THIS FROM THE PLANE A FEW TIMES LIKE WHAT IS THAT, SOUNDS LIKE IF THE ECONOMY CAN GET BACK TO NORMAL ALIL THIS MIGHT BE THE SPOT TO BE AT IN VEGAS BABY!!!!!!!! (SAID LIKE 00711) The new Ravella hotel is located on the site of the former Ritz Carlton Lake Las Vegas that bankrupted in May of last year. To many, the Ritz Carlton bankruptcy seemed like the terminal blow to the original vision of Lake Las Vegas, the last Gordian knot in a string of bad news and bankruptcies. But the opening of Ravella, and especially from Dolce, hotel managers and operators who specialize in meetings and conferences, seems relevant and positive in the forward evolution of Lake Las Vegas. Mr. Boeddeker’s original vision was to re-create a Lake Como-like, Mediterranean enclave 17 miles from the Las Vegas strip. Multi-million dollar residences would be built along the lake, there would be fine hotels, excellent food, substantial golf courses. It was a vision that had legs, and Mr. Boeddeker’s unusual expertise — his University education combined civil engineering and ( of all things) theology — pulled it off, for awhile. He was one of the few developers who could simultaneously envision a 320 acre lake in the middle of a desert and know how to create it from a practical engineering standpoint. In the grand home of great developer visions, this was one of the most expansive. The dark side of such a vision, and one that Mr. Boeddeker would have surely acknowledged were he still alive, was the importance of a recession-resistant economy needful to the overall health of the concept.But the economy was not recession-resistant, and even with celebrities buying houses, exceptional hotels and golf courses in active use, Lake Las Vegas reflected the economy’s downturn. Transcontinental defaulted on $540 million in loans in fall 2007, and went into foreclosure. The development was acquired by the Atalon Group in January 2008, only for it to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection six months later. And this was just the beginning The Las Vegas real estate market soon deflated., and the community’s three golf courses soon went into foreclosure, only one of which has since reopened. Wells Fargo took over Loews Lake Las Vegas – one of three hotels alongside the lake, and finally, the Ritz-Carlton announced it would be closing its doors in May 2010. The AAA Five Diamond Ritz-Carlton, known for its man-made white sand beach and exceptional spa treatments, has been an integral part of Lake Las Vegas since it opened in February 2003. The former owners, Village Hotel Investors LLC, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April 2008 to stop foreclosure of the $103 million mortgage. It was purchased by Village Hospitality LLC, an arm of Deutsche Bank. Which brings us to now –with all the bad news from 2008 to last year, some GOOD news — the opening of the Ravella Hotel on February 11th, 2011.