New housing plans designed to give boost to downtown

Diana Sahagun

Tuesday, May 8, 2001 | 9:40 a.m.

Two more affordable housing developments that will break ground downtown this summer will help anchor commercial projects planned for the area.

City officials, who are moving forward with a new vision for downtown, realize the area cannot be revived unless it becomes a place in which people can both live and work.

With commercial, cultural, and entertainment projects being planned for 61 acres nearby, the city is working toward construction of housing complexes in an effort to attract people to live downtown.

The two new projects complement the nearby Kirby Lofts and L'Octaine housing developments, currently under construction by the Tom Hom Group.

Stephen Biagiotti, president of real estate development company SDA Inc., will make a $23 million investment in downtown Las Vegas by building the 300-unit City Center Apartments. The city's neighborhood services department was given authority by the City Council last week to provide a 20-year, $485,000 federal loan toward acquiring the land at Bridger Avenue and Eighth Street.

With the land secured, Biagiotti will now seek approval for the site plans from the Planning Commission and City Council. Construction should begin by the end of July.

Biagiotti recently opened a similar 240-unit affordable housing complex -- Courtyard Centre Apartments -- in Reno.

Biagiotti said the Reno housing complex was designed for people who live in the downtown area and targets casino workers and seniors. The community is a prototype for the downtown Las Vegas development.

The downtown Las Vegas project also will provide 2,000 square feet of retail space that fronts Bridger. Rent will be based on a sliding scale for tenants with lower incomes.

City leaders became interested in the project last year, when the mayor and members of the City Council visited the Reno complex and noted that such a community would be an asset to downtown Las Vegas.

"Some of the things the City Council is doing and the attention they're giving to downtown redevelopment will cause the private sector developer like us to come in and do something also," Biagiotti said.

In the immediate area is another complex of five homes, which will be under construction next month at Ninth Street and Bridger.

Todd Nigro said the five homes will be based on a prototype of a similar project the firm built in Summerlin. The homes will have two bedrooms and range from 1,072 square feet to 1,574 square feet.

"The benefit is you have to start with housing in order to make a 24-hour town that also gives people an attractive place to live downtown," Neighborhood Services Director Sharon Segerblom said. "It also takes a block of pretty decrepit urban areas and makes it into a nice complex."