Real scarcity creates value.
That’s why Barry Bonds’ record-setting home run ball has sold for millions, and other one-of-a-kind sports memorabilia goes for a lot of money. If you have that stamp, or the plane is upside down, or there's some other mistake, it may be something incredibly rare that's worth an untold amount of money.
Related: Las Vegas Strip gamblers face heavy new expense
The problem is that true scarcity is now actually pretty uncommon. Things that used to be valuable, like baseball cards and comic books, have suffered from people actually collecting them.
Sure, some people go away to college, and their parents throw away their Pokémon collection that was worth tens of thousands of dollars. That, however, happens a lot less frequently, because everyone understands the collecting economy.
In some ways, that has also created more collectibles, which lowers the value of some over others. In reality, an item, really no matter what it is, is only worth what someone will pay you for it.
💵💰Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter💰💵
You might have a diamond ring that you paid $100,000 for, but if the market will only pay $60,000, then at that moment, that’s what it’s worth.
Land on the Las Vegas Strip is incredibly hard to come by, because the entire Strip only runs 4.2 miles. That makes any open pieces very valuable, but not all Strip land was created equal.
Image source: Shutterstock
The south Las Vegas Strip is worth more than the north
The central and southern parts of the Las Vegas Strip are essentially full. Caesar’s Entertainment (CZR) and MGM resorts international dominate those areas. Both companies offer casinos from the middle lower end to the upper end.
That area of the Strip also houses T-Mobile Arena, where the Vegas Golden Knights play. Nearly every non-mega resort or massive retail complex in those areas has been eliminated.
Lesser properties like Casino Royale, a smaller casino with a Best Western hotel situated between a Caesar’s resort casino and the Venetian, will soon be turned into a skyscraper mega resort.
Even the Las Vegas Sphere, arguably the venue with the highest consistent ticket prices in the world, actually sits in the parking lot of the Venetian.
More travel:
- U.S. government issues serious warning for cruise passengers
- Delta Air Lines makes a baggage change that travelers will like
- United Airlines passenger incident triggers quick response
When you head to the north Strip, however, it’s not quite the same. Resorts World International and Fontainebleau Las Vegas have greatly improved that area, but there is still open land.
Neither of those properties has done nearly as well as expected, and projects like an NBA arena have stalled out on the north Strip. That doesn't mean the area isn't valuable; it's just less valuable than the land on the central and south sections of the Las Vegas Strip.
New Las Vegas Strip property hits foreclosure
At the moment, it has been highly rumored that an entire resort in that area, Circus Circus, is up for sale, but that appears to be a private process.
Another property, a vacant storefront at the base of condo tower Sky Las Vegas, went into foreclosure in April due to an unpaid mortgage.
“Located on the north Strip, the store has been empty since pharmacy chain CVS moved out in 2017. Real estate brokerage signs out front have announced the space is available ever since. Virginia real estate firm Capital Square, the storefront’s landlord for more than a decade until the recent foreclosure, declined to comment,” according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
And, while CVS and other pharmacy chains still do big business on the central and south Strips, companies in that space including CVS and Walgreens have been closing stores nationally, while rival RiteAid has begun a bankruptcy liquidation process.
Property records show Capital Square had acquired the roughly 14,380-square-foot space in 2014 for about $33.3 million, the paper reported. It had a long-term lease through 2029 with CVS, but the drugstore chain closed the location in 2017.
The real estate company also owns the Las Vegas Raiders training facility in Henderson, Nevada.
Related: Another vodka and whiskey brand files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
“This property, completed in 2020, was built for the Las Vegas Raiders to use as their training facility and corporate headquarters upon the team’s relocation to Las Vegas. Raiders Football Club, LLC, which owns the NFL franchise and team, leases the property,” it shared on its website.
No plans have been shared for the north Strip property, but traditionally after a foreclosure, properties end up being auctioned off.
