Council approves second phase of Lake Las Vegas

Jeffrey Libby

Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2001 | 9:50 a.m.

A request to the Henderson City Council Tuesday to develop 1,323 acres at one of Henderson's most exclusive addresses drew little interest during a public hearing.

The development would be the second phase for the Lake Las Vegas Resort, whose first phase of 2,600 acres is not yet complete and is projected to have an ultimate cost of $5 billion.

No one spoke at the public hearing, and the Henderson City Council approved the second phase without comment.

"It will be a positive addition for Henderson," Dave Norris, a city senior planner, said. "It takes Lake Las Vegas down to Lake Mead Drive, a highly visible major roadway. In the long term, it sets a trend for upgrading the whole Lake Mead corridor."

Brad Nelson, chief operating officer of Lake Las Vegas Resort, said before the meeting that the company's plans for high-end homes, some businesses and two golf courses on the 1,323 acres in northeast Henderson are relatively straightforward.

"There will be a minimum impact to schools. For many residents, these will be secondary homes," he said.

As for the planned 2,120 houses on land that could hold as many as 4,500 homes, Nelson said, "The land is very rugged and the general approach is to the golf courses, so there's not a lot of space left for houses."

The city in September 2000 approved a first golf course on 320 acres within the 1,323-acre parcel.

Lake Las Vegas Resort obtained that land in January 2001 through a land exchange with the Bureau of Land Management. In that trade, valued at roughly $8.4 million, the BLM received 85 acres in the Calico Basin, adjacent to Red Rock Canyon, and another 5,200 acres near Winnemucca, Rex Wells, a BLM administrator, said.

The remaining 1,000 acres approved for development Tuesday are still considered public lands, Wells said. Lake Las Vegas Resort is in negotiations with the BLM and three other private landowners, Wells said.

The initial development at Lake Las Vegas, which is still under construction, includes a hotel with casino and several hundred upscale homes built around the south shore of a 320-acre lake. The development has several permits for additional casinos and a $500 million master-planned community is under construction on the north side of the lake.