Apparently, some married California men had motives other than investment when they purchased luxury condominiums in Vegas.

Naturally, during the good times, these men, being diligent, came out here every few weeks to check on their properties. I am sure they missed their families, but work is work. Now, of course, some of those same owners, despite their diligence, are being forced to let go of those investment properties and occasionally, with the foreclosure, someone is losing a home. Huh?

This weekend I met an unexpected victim of the foreclosure crisis--one who didn't want her name used. A longtime Vegas escort, she was living in an apartment when a sugar daddy lured her into living at his investment property rent-free. The arrangement was simply too good to pass up. (You can guess what he took as payment instead.)

Then came the foreclosure crisis. And the thing about foreclosure is that it is a dialogue between banks and owners--no one talks to residents at properties until the very end. When the owner could no longer keep up the payments on the luxury condo, and the property went into foreclosure, the condominium
association gave her a day to get out (she was able to negotiate for a few more days). For now she is staying with a friend, her furniture and belongings piled into the friend's garage. And she assures me that many others are in her, um, compromising position.

These days Las Vegas is under construction.

I went to the Strip with the Buffet's photographer, Sarah Gerke, while she updated her photos of various properties. Right now there is so much building going on that the tourist part of Las Vegas Boulevard looks like a gigantic construction zone. This is most apparent at the site of City Center, MGM-Mirage's massive six-tower development on the Strip, being built between Bellagio and Monte Carlo.

This is a very big question, and so I want to raise it in as small a way as possible: Is the Las Vegas Strip being bought? Are we transforming from the era of resorts run by public companies into a time of private ownership? What does that mean for Vegas?

Of course, even for the stock exchange-listed and traded companies, public ownership has been a relative thing. Sheldon Adelson, I think, sold a small percentage of shares in his Las Vegas Sands Corp. on the New York Stock Exchange, but not enough that anyone will wonder who is the boss or ask that many questions about what the boss is up to.

Typical is MGM Mirage, which is a public company. Kirk Kerkorian, already the majority owner, is currently trying to raise his stake to 61% of the shares. More dramatically, private equity firms are attempting to purchase Harrah's. The latest news is that Fertitta Colony Partners (the Fertitta family that started Stations) wants to buy back all shares and take the company private. Also, the South Coast (now South Point) was recently sold by Boyd Gaming, the public company that built it, to Michael Gaughan.

Is it possible that Las Vegas resorts are about to be passed en masse from public companies to private hands? Why now? This is something I wish the local business reporters would begin putting pieces together on. It seems to be adding up to more than a series of discreet incidents.

I got a call last night from a spokesperson for Las Ramblas, the $3 billion proposed hotel/condo/casino development backed by among others actor George Clooney. She called to deny a report on the Buffet that the project is in trouble and will be either canceled or put on hold. "The project is moving forward and there is NO truth to the rumours suggesting otherwise," she said. Though at this time she said she was unable to elaborate further. Still, according to her, everyone at Las Ramblas is dumbfounded where the rumour is coming from. We will see.

(photo by Amanda Edwards/Getty)

Since leaving the parental nest I have always lived in apartments. I am not fussy as long I've got my books, my music, my cats and a door to get out. So, before I moved here in 1999, I rented the first apartment I found on the Internet and I am still living there now. Few understand why I stay here as my apartment was built in the 80's (ancient by Vegas standards) and has construction problems that are apparent even to me (light switches that are wired backwards, a roof that doesn't keep the rain out, and is so porous that during the summer the air conditioner running full time can't get my two bedroom apartment lower than 85 degrees and, most disturbingly, odd dark stains on the ceiling that each year seem to mysteriously grow). And, yet, I have never really thought of moving. But last week in the mail I got a notice that even my cruddy apartment complex is hoping to go condo and if I am not interested in purchasing all this luxury I will be required to move next year.

"It's the combination of rising construction costs, rising land prices and the fact that the mid- and high-rise condo market (in Las Vegas) is still in its infancy," said John Restrepo, principal of Restrepo Consulting Group.

He said the fever to build a condo tower in Las Vegas was equivalent to a gold rush. But getting a condo project off the ground is tougher than drawing up a rendering and having a slick marketing campaign.

"There's a certain segment that are more promoters than developers, more snake-oil salesmen," Restrepo said.