LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 6, 2006--Last fall, prominent national developer Jim Noteware of Houston-based NOTEWARE Development partnered with K&S Mesa Verde, LLC, an entity controlled by Edward Kalikow of the Kalikow Group and Eugene Shalik of Shalik Realty Ventures, both New York-based private equity firms specializing in real estate development, to purchase 10 acres of prime real estate one block east of the Las Vegas South Strip.

Home sellers in the Las Vegas Valley used to double-digit appreciation rates on their homes may have to wait longer or even accept sub-par offers this year as a record number of resale houses were on the market in April, real estate agents said.

Apartment rents throughout Las Vegas are expected to increase 5 percent this year to average of $834 a month.

Strong and steady optimism was tempered by concerns about affordable housing and "irrational exuberance" in the Las Vegas condominium market at an economic forecasting and business expo Thursday.

Three weeks ago, Eli Verdnikov, an engineer in Los Gatos, Calif., received a letter saying that the apartment building he planned to retire to — Icon Las Vegas — would not be built. In the envelope was a check for $73,672.81, the 10 percent deposit Mr. Verdnikov had paid, plus interest.