Construction was rolling February at the Vegas Grand condominium site, but some buyers have filed a lawsuit against the developer. REVIEW-JOURNAL FILE PHOTO

A class action lawsuit against the developer of Vegas Grand condominiums was filed Thursday in Clark County District Court, an attorney representing the buyers said.

Five people who signed reservation agreements and paid $25,000 deposits are suing Florida-based Del American for canceling reservations at specified prices.

The lawsuit alleges breach of contract, breach in good faith and fair dealing, fraud and violations of Nevada laws against deceptive trade practices, Las Vegas attorney George West said.

Nevada Title Co., the escrow company holding the purchasers' reservation deposits, is also named as a defendant in the complaint.

Phone calls to Del American Chief Executive Officer Chris Del Guidice were not returned Thursday.

The lawsuit was filed after Del American notified buyers in April that their current agreements would be canceled effective May 11. They were given options to purchase the units at a higher price, discounted 10 percent to 15 percent. Otherwise, their units would be offered for sale to the public at an event scheduled for today at Wynn Las Vegas, priced from the $300,000s to more than $1 million.

Del American is building the 880-unit Vegas Grand luxury condo complex on 20 acres at Flamingo Road and Swenson Street, where the Flamingo and Tropicana washes converge. The company purchased the property for about $4 million and has spent millions more on infrastructure work.

Some 300,000 cubic yards of dirt are being excavated and construction is under way on 2,000 linear feet of 72-foot-wide, double-arched drainage culverts that will connect to bridges at Flamingo, Swenson and Cambridge Avenue.

Vegas Grand was originally going to offer a mix of luxury apartments for $850 to $3,000 a month and condos starting in the $200,000s. Del Guidice decided to switch the project to a midrise all-condo format when he saw the market emerging with the announcement of so many other condo projects.

In April 2004, Del American announced on its Web site that it had "sold" 740 residences within 150 days of the initial offering, with prices starting in the low $200,000s. Since then, with soaring construction costs and permitting delays, Vegas Grand has increased its prices to market levels.

Thomas Blinkinsop, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said he reserved a unit for $305,000 and was notified in a "new offer reservation agreement" that the price had jumped to $510,000.

"This is an unfair tactic by the developer," Blinkinsop said. "I think they want to make more money by selling our unit to another unsuspecting buyer at a much higher price."

Another buyer from Chicago who is not involved in the lawsuit said he called the Vegas Grand sales office and found that many of the sales staff had left, including the person who sold him his unit.

"After holding escrow money for over 18 months, sending monthly newsletters and other notes about the excitement of the project and even a silly Lucite shovel when they 'broke ground' last September, priority reservation holders got notice of an over 70 percent increase in units over our reservation price and were told we could either sign another reservation agreement for 10 percent below the new price or cancel our reservation," Wayne Magdziarz said.

"As a real estate developer in Chicago, I understand cost overruns and other construction issues that impact price and could cause reservations to no longer hold before contract," he said. "However, there's no excuse for a developer to hold almost 10 percent of the purchase price of a unit for over a year and a half, continually communicate that contracts are just 30 or 60 days away, and then pull something like this. They're horrible business people, and don't do the Vegas real estate market the pride it deserves."