Polo Towers expanding
The owner of the Strip time-share property changes its name as it plans a 21-story addition.
By Hubble Smith
Review-Journal

The company that owns the Polo Towers and Jockey Club time-share units in Las Vegas has changed its name to Diamond Resorts International and is adding a third tower to its flagship property.

Construction has already begun on the $45 million, 21-story tower that will add 190 one- and two-bedroom time-share units to the existing 322 units at the Polo Towers.

The tower, to be called The Villas at Polo Towers, should be ready for occupancy in July, according to Stephen Cloobeck, president and chief executive officer of Diamond Resorts.

It's being built by Perini Building Co., the same company that built the 160-unit first tower in 1992 and the 162-unit second tower in 1995.

The Polo Towers expansion, along with a more aggressive growth strategy, triggered the corporate name change from International Resort Group and the development of a new corporate logo, Cloobeck said.

"It better suits our long-term growth strategy," he said.

Cloobeck plans to announce a time-share project in Hawaii in a week or two, and is also looking at Scottsdale, Ariz., Lake Tahoe, Colorado ski country and California for future developments.

Having taken over the Carriage House as developer of record, Diamond Resorts now controls more than 1,000 suites in Las Vegas, or 40 percent of the market share, and is the largest time-share company in Nevada, according to Cloobeck.

He said the first Polo Tower is sold out and the second is 85 percent sold. The time-share units, ranging from 700 square feet for one bedroom to 1,100 square feet for two bedrooms, go for about $12,500 each, entitling the owner to two weeks of vacation time.

Polo Towers belongs to the Interval International exchange network, allowing owners to exchange weeks with other time-share properties throughout the world.

Nevada's time-share industry generates more than $1.2 billion in economic impact for the state and employs about 21,000 people, according to a 1997 overview from the American Resort Development Association.

Robert Wengel, chief operating officer for Diamond Resorts, said the Polo Towers accommodate 2,600 people a week in Las Vegas, and the number jumps to 5,000 a week with the inclusion of the Jockey Club and Carriage House.

Las Vegas did about $83 million in time-share sales in 1996, according to the industry report, and is increasing at an annual rate of 15 percent.

"We're going to do $53 million to $56 million this year alone in Las Vegas," Wengel said.

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