Lake Las Vegas, a desert community in Henderson, Nev. with three golf courses and more than 1,000 homes, has entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy according to an article in the Wall Street Journal. The development, which is owned by a unit of Atalon Group went into bankruptcy protection because of its heavy debt load totaling some $800 million.

Lake Las Vegas, with its European-themed neighborhoods (think desert Mediterranean), wide swaths of Jack Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf-designed golf greens and an oversized 320-acre man-made lake, may be a lush oasis in the desert, but in fact, homes sales at the community are wilting.

Slow home sales coupled with debt taken on by the previous developer (Atalon acquired this project in early 2008), led to cash flow problems. According to the Journal, the Ritz-Carlton hotel at Lake Las Vegas also filed for Chapter 11 in April and Atalon may face lawsuits from home builders.

Real estate at the community was geared towards second homeowners or part-time snowbird residents. Early signs that some of the development’s projects were struggling came in 2006, when Storied Places cancelled its Lake Las Vegas fractional development La Scala, citing poor pre-construction sales.

Homes at Lake Las Vegas range from condominiums starting in the mid-$300,000s to grand homes that overlook the golf courses or lake. A nine-bedroom, 19,968 square foot house is on the market with an asking price of $14.5 million, while another house that sits adjacent to the lake with a private boat dock has a price tag of more than $8 million.

One lender on the project, Credit Suisse, is no stranger to bankruptcy courts. It is also the lender on the Tamarack Resort, an Idaho ski resort that entered bankruptcy protection earlier this year.