National market report

Las Vegas

Construction began last month on a $415 million renovation of the Sahara casino and hotel, now called the SLS Las Vegas, the Wall Street Journal reported. Los Angeles nightclub operator and hotelier Sam Nazarian partnered with Stockbridge Capital Group in 2007 to purchase the Sahara, a Las Vegas landmark once frequented by members of the famed Rat Pack. The owners plan to open the SLS in 2014 as a mixed-use resort and casino with more than 1,600 guest rooms. As much as $215 million of the renovation will be funded by the federal EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, which grants green cards to foreigners who make job-creating investments. Nazarian has already secured $150 million from EB-5 investors, who each agreed to put $500,000 into the project in exchange for a green card, according to the Journal.

Orlando

In the Orlando metropolitan area, buyers’ desire for new homes skyrocketed in 2012, the Orlando Sentinel reported. There were 5,762 closed home sales in the Orlando area in 2012, a 38 percent jump from 2011. And in the fourth quarter of 2012, builders began work on 1,643 single-family homes in the area, a 47 percent increase from the final quarter of 2011. There were 6,297 total housing starts in the area in 2012, up 53 percent from 2011. Some estimates indicate that housing prices in the area increased between 10 and 15 percent in 2012.

Chicago

A development boom is expected to add about 4,700 apartments to the downtown Chicago market by the end of 2014, Chicago Real Estate Daily reported. In the River West neighborhood, developer Michael Breheny is planning an $80 million, 240-unit residential building with 18,000 square feet of shared office space. Breheny, the owner of Chicago-based contractor Contemporary Concepts, is also teaming up with another Windy City company, Campus Acquisitions, on a proposed 12-story, 51-unit apartment building at 707 North Wells Street that will cost about $20 million. And a venture led by Dan Moceri, cofounder of Convergint Technologies, agreed to buy a property at 601 West Jackson Boulevard in the West Loop neighborhood, with plans to build a 198-unit apartment building there. Chicago developer Enrico Plati previously planned to build apartments on the site, currently a parking lot owned by the Illinois Institute of Technology, but the deal fell through.

Los Angeles

California-based Western National Realty paid $100.8 million to buy Ironwood and Fairway Palms, an expansive 496-unit apartment development, from J.P. Morgan & Co., Commercial Property Executive reported. The deal marks the final acquisition in the $200 million Western National Realty Fund II. Located in the Los Angeles suburb of Rancho Cucamonga, the property was constructed in 2002 and consists of two adjacent apartment communities, with 260 units at Ironwood and 236 units at Fairway, the Press Enterprise reported. The complex, which is 95 percent occupied, will be managed by Western National Property Management. Fund II also included investments in Utah and Colorado, according to Commercial Property Executive.

The onetime home of Ronald Reagan

Pacific Palisades 

President Ronald Reagan’s former home has sold for $5.21 million, more than $200,000 over its asking price, CNBC reported last month.  The four-bedroom, four-bathroom mid-century modern ranch in Pacific Palisades hit the market in December. The president and his wife, Nancy, lived in the 4,764-square-foot house from 1957 until 1981, when they moved to the White House.

Michael Jordan and fiancée Yvette Prieto’s Palm Beach home

Palm Beach 

After two years and $7.6 million worth of construction and renovations, basketball legend Michael Jordan and fiancée Yvette Prieto have moved into a South Florida mansion in the ultra-exclusive Bear’s Club, the Huffington Post reported. Jordan paid $4.8 million for the three-acre property in 2010, and his new home boasts 11 bedrooms, a media room and an athletic wing with — of course — a basketball court.

Allen Iverson’s home in Atlanta

Atlanta 

Another hoops star, Allen Iverson lost his $4.5 million Atlanta mansion to foreclosure last month after defaulting on a $1.5 million mortgage, TMZ first reported. The six-bedroom, nine-bathroom house is now on the market for $2.8 million, Fox News reported. Iverson also previously lost his mansion in Cherry Hills, Colo., to foreclosure.