CEO bullish on Las Vegas economy, upscale rentals

Steve Patterson stands in a room at the Bellagio, overlooking the Las Vegas Valley. While most people see barren land among the high-rise buildings and residential areas that populate the desert, the CEO of Related Development sees dollar signs.

“There’s a resurgence in Vegas in a broad context,” he said.

Related Development, a Miami-based luxury home rental company, plans by the end of 2019 to have as many as three projects costing an estimated $300 million up and running in the valley, Patterson said, thanks to Las Vegas’ diversifying economy and upward growth potential.

Speaking alongside company Vice President Kevin Wisdom, Patterson in an interview with the Sun teased his company’s plans and reasons for investing in Las Vegas:

What do you see here in Las Vegas?

Patterson: We have a pretty good idea that rent growth here is going to continue. “Service industry” used to be a dirty term, but it’s not anymore. The economy in Las Vegas is pretty resilient. Job growth held up pretty steady here while it slowed down in other cities. They were reaching full employment and Las Vegas kept going.

In light of Fitch calling Las Vegas the most overvalued market and our history with the real estate bubble, why do you feel so confident investing here?

Patterson: We have to have cycles, or we would never make any money. That’s what makes our business work. It’s like surfing — without waves there’s no sport there. We rely on cycles, and Las Vegas is always going to cycle. But there is so much right now that’s working in its favor: six major resort and casino projects, $10 billion in work to be delivered by 2020 — that’s a lot of jobs being created today and that’s a lot more jobs going to be created on a permanent basis as soon as those places open up. I feel really good about Las Vegas.

Can you talk about your projects?

Wisdom: We’re working on three projects in the metro area. Our focus to date has been in the southern portion of the metro area, just outside Summerlin. We’ve done our due diligence and feel good about what we’ve done at this point.