Developers fight over I-215 retail rights

Grace Leong

Tuesday, May 30, 2000 | 11:08 a.m.

Two master planned community developers in Henderson are seeking an injunction to stop Champion Village LLC of Las Vegas from developing a 20-acre commercial shopping center on a 112.3-acre property they say is limited mainly to residential use.

The Stephanie-Paseo Commercial Center is planned for the 112.3-acre Champion Village residential development at the corner of Lake Mead Drive (I-215) and Stephanie Street. A Champion official said the company anticipates large anchor tenants such as grocery stores, but declined to comment further on its plans for the development.

In a lawsuit filed in Clark County District Court, the Landwell Co. L.P. and its general partner Basic Land Co. Inc. said Champion not only violated a land use covenant, but also hurt their plans to commercially develop a 145-acre property located across I-215 from Champion's planned shopping center.

"Some of the adjacent property, owned by Basic and Landwell, is intended for commercial development and clearly benefits from being located next to property that should be used for residential purposes," the suit said.

Stephanne Zimmerman, Landwell's director of finance, said the two companies planned to lay infrastructure including roads, sewers and drainage for their 145-acre land and then sell it to retail developers.

"Champion's (property) is on the south side of the I-215 and Landwell's is on the north side ... Because Champion is now zoned commercial, it would have the ability to do exactly the same thing, that is, sell land for commercial uses," Zimmerman said.

"Champion's commercial center would compete with potential developers for our land. They may not buy our land to build their own buildings if there was another building nearby," she said.

Van Martin, Champion's vice president of planning and land development, responded to the lawsuit by saying, "We anticipated the Landwell action. We have been in communication with them on this matter. We hope that this situation will be resolved to the satisfaction of both parties soon."

He declined further comment.

A local real estate expert said the competing commercial projects are at a prime location.

"The interchange of Stephanie (Street) and the Beltway is an important linkage to the Galleria mall area because of the volume of traffic density," said Rick Brase, vice president of CB Richard Ellis.

In its application for comprehensive plan amendment and zone change on January 11, Champion said: "(the commercial center's) characteristics include freeway frontage with good visibility and easy access from the 1-215/Stephanie Street interchange."

"The project will serve the needs of residents living within the Champion Village master plan, the surrounding community and the city of Henderson," it said.

Champion's predecessor-in-interest, Manley Development Inc., acquired the 112.3 acre property for $6.16 million from Victory Valley Land Co. L.P., Landwell's predecessor-in-interest, on Dec. 27, 1996.

The suit alleged Champion sought in April to change the zoning of the 20 acres from residential to "Community Commercial" with a "General Commercial" land use designation without the plaintiffs' consent. The property was rezoned for commercial use on May 2 by the Henderson City Council.

The suit said Champion violated the land use covenant that requires 69.18 acres be used for single family residences with minimum lot sizes of 5,000 square feet, 13.01 acres be used for multi-family residences of not more than 130 units, 5.2 acres for commercial use, 10 acres for a school and 5 acres for a park.

"Because the zoning application was inconsistent with Henderson's master plan, Champion also applied for an amendment to the master plan to make the zone change possible," the suit said.

But John Marchiano, an attorney who assisted in Champion's application, disputed the allegations. "All the planning principles of the southwest Henderson special study area for commercial (use) are met at this 20-acre location."

"This area was previously designated commercial by the city of Henderson. On July 27, 1995, a portion of that 20 acres was designated commercial. Later, a March 3, 1998, study area map showed almost the entire site was designated commercial," he said.

The plaintiffs disagreed. "For Champion to unilaterally alter the parties' land use plan and to construct a 20-acre commercial shopping center on property restricted to residential use confounds the parties' agreement and frustrates the very goal of master planned development," they said.

They are seeking an injunction to stop Champion from applying for building, grading and other permits needed to build the shopping center, commissioning design and engineering plans, soliciting construction bids or "selling the property at an inflated price due to its prospective commercial utility."

The plaintiffs also seek an order to rescind the deal and receive restitution from Champion, which it claimed obtained the value of commercially zoned property allegedly without paying a price commensurate with such zoning.