11 low-income homes planned for older NLV area

Diana Sahagun

Friday, Aug. 18, 2000 | 10:04 a.m.

A deteriorating North Las Vegas neighborhood will see some much-needed improvements with the addition of 11 new homes designed for low-income buyers.

The homes will result from a cooperative project among the city of North Las Vegas, the Clark County Economic Opportunity Board and a building firm specializing in affordable housing.

The council Wednesday approved relaying $750,000 in federal funds to the EOB, which will purchase 11 vacant lots in the city's recently-established beautification area.

For the city, the deal will provide additional tax revenue. For the EOB, the deal marks its entry into the home building business. And for the builder, Chattin Industries Inc. of Virginia, the deal will be its first in the Las Vegas Valley.

In May the city established the beautification area in the neighborhood bounded by Lake Mead Boulevard, Bruce Street, Tonopah Drive and Interstate 15. It pledged to funnel federal funds to the neighborhood to help reverse the blight and increase property values.

So far, the EOB has identified 15 vacant lots and in the coming week will determine the land values, said Angela Quinn, the EOB housing administrator.

Once the EOB purchases the lots, it will bring in Chattin to build the pre-manufactured homes. In approximately four months the homes will be trucked from a manufacturing plant in California and plunked down at the vacant lots.

Daniel Chattin, founder and president of Chattin Industries, said the company has been building houses for the government, including for the Air Force and Navy, since 1992.

The benefit of pre-manufactured homes is that they can be built quicker, cheaper and more efficiently, Chattin said.

Instead of building a house step by step with different crews in the hot Southern Nevada sun, the homes will be built in an enclosed factory in California.

"The quality is as good or better and the construction process is quicker," said Chattin, adding that the homes can be on the ground in four months and save 10-15 percent in cost. "Our ultimate goal is to serve the community, which has a tremendous need for affordable housing."

The homes will have three bedrooms and two baths. Chattin emphasized that they are not mobile homes, but factory-built like a car.

Once the houses are on the lots, the EOB will sell them to those whose household income is at least 80 percent below median.

The EOB will earn about $9,000 for each house it sells and will return money to the city as its profits accumulate.

Chattin said these types of homes begin the long process of revitalizing rundown neighborhoods.

"It's the pride of ownership," he said. "When you're a homeowner, you have a commitment to the community."