The Rapaport Group has signed a letter-of-intent to purchase office space in the World Jewelry Center.

The Rapaport Group is the primary source of diamond price and market information. Group products include the Rapaport Diamond Report and RapNet, the world’s largest electronic diamond trading network, with daily listings of over $3.1 billion of diamonds.

“The World Jewelry Center is a great opportunity for diamond and jewelry companies seeking to develop and expand U.S. operations,” said Martin Rapaport, chairman of the Rapaport Group. “Rapaport USA has been based in Las Vegas since 1998 and profited greatly by being there. Improved access to superior employees at reasonable rates, a 24/7 work environment, no state or city taxes, and a can-do pro-business attitude have made Vegas a great place to do business.”

The proposed World Jewelry Center, with approximately one million square feet of mixed-use space, is being planned in the new master-planned community of Union Park south of the Las Vegas strip. It will combine corporate offices of domestic and international gem and jewelry companies in a proposed 60-story trade tower. The mixed-use project will also include an adjacent free-standing gallery of retail jewelry stores, a museum, exhibition space, and luxury residential condominiums. It is being designed by Altoon+Porter Architects.

The center is being developed by Probity International Corp., a Beverly Hills–based, fully-integrated real estate company that has, developed and operated Class-A office, hotel, retail, industrial, and residential properties in the U.S. and abroad.

JCK