In case you missed it . . .

HIGH-RISE BREAKS GROUND

New York developer Ian Bruce Eichner broke ground today on a new $1.8-billion hotel-casino-condominium complex along the Las Vegas Strip, adjacent to the Bellagio Resort Casino. The Cosmopolitan Resort and Casino calls for two 53-story aquamarine glass towers housing 3,000 timeshare, condominium and hotel units, ranging from 600 to 12,000 square feet in size.

Global Hyatt Corp. will manage and operate the hotel portion under its Grand Hyatt brand. "We've been working to get a location on the Strip for several decades," said Hyatt Chairman Thomas Pritzker. "Few addresses on the Strip have a better location." The 8.5-acre project will create 3,000 construction jobs as well as 5,000 positions upon its mid-2008 opening. Perini Building Co. is the general contractor, with Miami-based Arquitectonica as architect. The construction contract is worth $1 billion.

The crystalline-shaped towers feature wraparound balconies with floor-to-ceiling windows for 360 degree Strip views. The entire complex contains over 5 million square feet of enclosed space, making it twice as large as the Empire State Building.

"Of the many recently announced projects along the emerging Harmon Avenue corridor, we will be the first to open in mid-2008," said Eichner. "In doing so, we will redefine the city's skyline with a vertical design that contrasts sharply with the horizontally developed, replicated cities and themed hotels that bracket Las Vegas Boulevard."

CASTAWAYS CAST DOWN

Implosion of the derelict Castaways Hotel & Casino could happen as early as January, pending city approval. Once the requisite demolition permits are supplied, LVI Environmental of Nevada is prepared to topple the 447-room hotel tower at the eastern end of Fremont Street.

The property has stood empty since being seized by creditor Vestin Mortgage on January 28, 2004.

LVI received the implosion contract in May or June of this year, according to company President Joe Catania, and demolition of the Castaways' ancillary structures began in July, starting with the parking garage. The company has previously handled the implosions of, among others, the Sands, El Rancho, Desert Inn and original Aladdin casinos.

The collapse of the main hulk will be handled in such a way as to preserve the Castaways' bowling alley, said Station Casinos spokeswoman Lori Nelson. She wasn't certain exactly how LVI would accomplish this, saying "That's those guys' challenge."

The bowling alley is considered by many to be the casino-hotel's primary -- possibly its only -- asset.

As for the fate of the rest of the site, "no decision has been made on what we're doing. It wouldn't have met any of our needs," Nelson said of the 51-year-old Castaways tower, because of the way it had been built and subsequently augmented.

"Buildings were just tacked on," said the Station spokeswoman, raising issues of traffic flow and construction quality.

Station has been studying future uses for the site. One possibility, floated both by Station and others, would be for the company to remove the land's gaming-enabled status and re-sell it -- a gambit Station has previously employed at several other parcels around the valley.

KB HOME AND CENTRA PLAN MIXED-USE PROJECTS

Centra Properties and KB Home are partnering on $900 million worth of new mixed-use urban projects throughout the valley. The two firms are jointly developing the $500 million, 65-acre Durango Village at I-215 and Sunset Road in Las Vegas and the $400 million, 40-acre Stone Lake Village at Stephanie Street and Wigwam Avenue in Henderson.

"Both of our companies bring different ideas and experience to the table which will allow us to create something interesting and unique," said Frank Beck, Centra's chief development officer. "Our strategy is to work with the major landowners in the area to coordinate closely and develop projects that are complimentary to each other."

Stone Lake will consist of 1,162 condominium and town-home units in four to five-story buildings, plus 75,000 square feet of office, commercial, and retail space with inline shops and stand alone building pads. The multi-phase undertaking will be built around the city of Henderson's $12 million man-made lake park.

Durango Village, meanwhile, will consist of 35 acres of residential and 30 acres of commercial development with restaurants, retail shops and office space. There will be four-to-five-story residential towers combining for 1,200 units. The property, which is situated within Clark County's new mixed-use overlay district, is permitted for 50-units-an-acre densities.

"We believe that the new urban product being proposed, along with the great location and amenities, will provide a lifestyle that currently is not available in Las Vegas," said Don DelGiorno, president of KB Home's Las Vegas division.

Both projects are expected to break ground in mid-2006, with expected completion by 2009.

LOCAL BANKS REPORT HEALTHY PROFITS

Mirroring the strength of the Southern Nevada economy, banks with local operations have announced strong earnings results.

Zion's Bancorp, the Utah-based parent of Nevada State Bank, reported third-quarter net income of $123 million, up from the $102.5 million reported at the same time last year. Net income for the year to date also jumped to $352 million from $301 million at the end of the first nine month of 2004.

Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp reported net income of just under $1.2 billion for the most-recent quarter, compared with nearly $1.1 billion for third-quarter last year. Changes in long-term interest rates had hurt the company's results in 2004, when it wrote off an $87 million impairment charge. This quarter, the bank has paid a $3 million charge for reparations for its mortgage servicing asset.

Washington Mutual showed a jump in net income as well. The Seattle-based bank with Las Vegas area branches showed third-quarter net earnings of $821 million, up from $674 million in the third quarter of 2004. Washington Mutual President and CEO Kerry Klinger attributed the bank's earnings in a large part to strong growth in consumer retail banking.

Las Vegas-based Community Bancorp continued to do well after acquiring fellow community financial institution, Bank of Commerce early this year. Community Bank, which went public late last year, reported third-quarter earnings of $2.7 million, up from $1.5 million for the same quarter last year.

Valley Bancorp, which went public just over a year ago, reported third-quarter earnings were up 65 percent from the same period a year ago. The bank showed net income of $1.5 million for the just-ended third-quarter, as compared $879,000 for the year-ago quarter.

The company's earnings for the calendar year were up 80 percent from this same point in 2004, said Valley Bank President and CEO Barry Hulin. For the nine months ending Sept. 30, 2005, the bank reported earnings of just under $4 million, as compared to nearly $2.2 million at the end of September 2004.

Hulin, whose bank went public in September of last year, attributed the corporation's success partially to the influx of cash since being listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange.

"It has helped because it has given us the needed extra capital," he said. "Before, we were running out of capital every nine months. It has been a driver."

VOTE ON RACE TRACK

A long, sometimes nightmarish, bankruptcy involving a New York State racetrack underwritten by Las Vegas-based Vestin Mortgage may see resolution on Oct. 31. That is the date set for a shareholder vote on two competing plans to bring heavily mortgaged harness-racing track Vernon Downs, near Syracuse, back into the trotting horse business.

The track, closed by the state in July 2004 and nearing $40 million in indebtedness, has been described in a Utica Observer-Dispatch editorial as "the equivalent of a troubled friend who always seems on the verge of rebounding from his woes before tumbling backwards again." At least $23.3 million of Vernon Downs' debt is owed to Vestin.

Majority owner Shawn Scott and Jeff Gural, owner of rival Tioga Downs racetrack, have put aside differences and united on one of the plans currently being submitted to as many creditors and shareholders as track manager Mid-State Raceway can locate. Gural is currently paying the bills to keep Vernon Downs vestigial operations going. Eric Spector, a San Diego businessman and former chief executive officer of Vernon Downs, is sponsoring the alternative buyout plan.

The Spector proposal offers $4 per share to all Vernon Downs stockholders but makes no guarantees to the track's creditors, approximately 500 in number. Gural and Scott's plan, which offers shareholders possible ownership participation in lieu of payment, will commit to pay creditors at least 90 cents on the dollar.

Whichever plan wins the shareholder/creditor vote still requires the approval of U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Stephen Gerling.

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.