Friday, April 3, 1998 | 11:28 a.m.
Joshua Villas, a $6-million housing project to be built on 10 acres just east of North Las Vegas on Cheyenne Avenue and Walnut Road, represents official-think on affordable housing for the future.
Why? Because it combines private developers with public dollars to create low-income living bolstered by social services like day care and job training and gives the residents a say in operating the housing project.
"We learned from the mistakes of the past, where we were just building affordable housing but offering no way out," said Assemblywoman Sandi Krenzer, D-Las Vegas, who represents the district.
Not only does the project provide badly needed affordable housing and social services, Krenzer said, but it's designed to conform to Clark County's land-use guide.
"We're finally doing it right, by following the master plan to put it in the right spot and provide services to the community," Krenzer said. "I'm proud it's in my back yard."
Designers envision 11 two-story buildings for the 176 families surrounding a courtyard that would function as an "extension of their living rooms," said Arnold Stalk, vice president of RPS Nevada Affordable Housing Corp.
"The need for affordable housing is acute in the Las Vegas Valley," Stalk said, due to the high growth rate fueled by the booming gaming industry, which has created thousands of low-paying service industry jobs.
"Many people are working full-time yet can't afford some of the basics," he said.
Joshua Villas is the second project RPS has broken ground on in the past 90 days, Stalk said. Construction began on the 144-unit Judith Villas in North Las Vegas last month.
The units range from one- to three-bedroom apartments with rents from $500 to $700 a month, just below the average rent in the valley of $631 a month.
RPS has plans to build 1,000 affordable housing units around the valley, some from the ground up and some by gutting and remodeling existing housing stock, Stalk said. Its first project was the renovation of Elmwood Villas on 28th and Cedar in Las Vegas.
"There's a real vacuum at this end of the market place," said Allan Bird, president of RPS. "Nobody is building housing for these people, yet they're the most deserving people in the world."
Funding for the projects comes from the state housing division of the Department of Business and Industry and county-backed affordable housing bonds.
Affordable housing is for low-to-medium income families who earn at least 80 percent of the median income, Stalk said, not to confuse it with Section VII housing for families further below the poverty level.
One of the differences is that the company will screen residents and help establish a residents' council, a non-profit self-governing body that will determine services and help run the premises, Stalk said.
The housing project also is being built in partnership with the YMCA, which will have an on-site family recreation center. Other services will include an after-school tutoring program, child-care assistance, swimming courses, employment assistance and job skills workshops, medical services and parenting and money management courses.
County Commission Chairwoman Yvonne Atkinson Gates, who helped secure financing for the project, said she was glad to be able to help.
"We're one of the fastest growing communities in the country and our focus as the Board of County Commissioners is to take care of the welfare of children of families," Gates said.
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