Hawkins takes pride in project

Saturday, Jan. 13, 2001 | 10:44 a.m.

Frank Hawkins could not say precisely how he spent $2.8 million in state money, but he doesn't expect it to bother Nevada lawmakers.

The former Las Vegas city councilman was not even required to itemize how the money was spent.

But Hawkins feels so good about what he has done, he expects to impress the Legislature's money committees by voluntarily reporting on the status of his Whispering Timbers affordable-housing development in West Las Vegas.

"If you picked up this community and moved it to Summerlin or Green Valley, there is no question the homes would sell for $25,000 to $30,000 higher," Hawkins said. "We wanted to build a project that people would be proud of."

Hawkins, executive director of the nonprofit Community Development Programs Center, received the state money in 1999 to help plan and make on-site improvements for the 208-home project that his organization is developing on the northwest corner of Martin Luther King and Lake Mead boulevards.

The $2.8 million represented the largest single "pork barrel" allocation the Legislature made to a Southern Nevada project over the past five years. Paul Brown, Southern Nevada director of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, a state watchdog group, said legislators should require accounting of how special-project money is spent.

"Without having accountability, you could be creating problems of having money misspent," Brown said. "There should be strings attached. The state may not have the staff (to audit spending), but they should require some reporting back."

But Brown applauded the state for supporting Hawkins' project.

"It seems like a worthwhile project because it is investing in a community that has been bypassed," Brown said.

Hawkins, a former Oakland Raiders running back, said the money represented a golden opportunity to revitalize 40 acres that were once the site of the crime-infested Gerson Park housing project. Gerson Park endured some of the city's worst rioting in 1992 following the acquittal of four white Los Angeles policemen in the beating of black motorist Rodney King.

"Gerson Park was the Cabrini Green of Las Vegas," Hawkins said, referring to the infamous Chicago housing project. "West Las Vegas was given a black eye. We think Whispering Timbers will change people's fear of this community."

No one argues that West Las Vegas needed the shot in the arm. What was once a thriving section of town experienced rapid urban decay over the past 20 years. Rundown housing, garbage-infested vacant lots and high street crime became the norm. Banks and retail stores were virtually nonexistent.

The Rev. Marion Bennett of Zion United Methodist Church called Whispering Timbers "definitely one of the greatest things to happen to that community."

"It's one of the best investments the state has made because (it) will get taxes back from that community," Bennett said. "If businesspeople see a community where they can make money, they will come."

Whispering Timbers has not been without controversy. Assemblyman Morse Arberry Jr., D-Las Vegas, announced his resignation as chief executive officer of a mortgage company affiliated with project after it was reported that he may have had a conflict of interest by voting to approve the state funds for the project.

But Whispering Timbers has become part of a housing renaissance that Hawkins believes will attract more stores to West Las Vegas. He said a retail development, as well as a new FBI field office, are planned across the street.

"I'm glad the state gave us the money because if (it) hadn't, we wouldn't be where we are today," Hawkins said.

It wasn't until after purchasing the land from the Las Vegas Housing Authority and razing Gerson Park that Hawkins approached the Legislature for Whispering Timbers' seed money.

His organization has already built 28 single-family homes, with the remaining 180 expected to be completed by the end of the year. At prices of $105,000 to $120,000 for two- to four-bedroom homes, Hawkins anticipates no problem completing the project.

If anything, he boasted that some for-profit developers are worried that his homes are too competitively priced. With kitchen appliances, washers and dryers, high ceilings and tiled roofs included, Hawkins said he is offering amenities that other developers cannot match.

His development, a gated community, also abuts a low-income apartment complex and the future site of senior housing that his organization is developing. He said he hopes the combination of homes and neighboring apartments proves such mixed residential projects can co-exist.

"There's a real need for affordable housing," Hawkins said. "There's a need for affordable senior housing and housing for families, including the working poor."

To show his appreciation to politicians and other community leaders who helped make Whispering Timbers a reality, Hawkins named the park after Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, and streets after Bennett, Arberry, Las Vegas City Councilman Gary Reese and Assemblyman Wendell Williams, D-Las Vegas.

There are also streets named for housing authority Executive Director Fred Brown and board member Dewain Steadman, the Rev. Willie Davis of Second Baptist Church, Las Vegas Latin Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Otto Merida and Jesse Scott, former president of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

"Without these people this project never could have happened," Hawkins said.