Details released for 1,900 acres

Mathis Winkler

Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2001 | 10:52 a.m.

Developers who want to build a master-planned community on 1,900 acres in North Las Vegas today for the first time revealed publicly a map of what's proposed.

The move comes two days after American Nevada Corp. and Del Webb Corp., partnering as North Valley Enterprises, paid a remaining $37.76 million of the $47.2 million purchase price. The two companies had already made a down payment to the Bureau of Land Management after entering the highest bid for the land at an auction in May.

The land is bisected by the proposed Las Vegas Beltway and sits roughly between Centennial Parkway, Grand Teton Drive, Decatur Boulevard and Clayton Street.

Del Webb plans to develop a neighborhood for people 55 and older on the site's northeastern corner, and American Nevada wants to build 3,822 homes and 988 apartments on the rest of the land.

American Nevada is owned by the Greenspun Corp., which also owns the Las Vegas Sun.

The map details locations for residential neighborhoods, commercial centers, parks and schools.

Del Webb officials said the map was 90 percent finished, with minor changes still to come in the future.

City officials agreed that the map reflected what's likely to happen on the land.

"It's looking pretty good," said Jacque Risner, the city's community development director, adding that the map won't be final until City Council members have approved the development. A council vote is probably still two months away.

But "things are just wonderful," Risner said. "Things are going along so well."

The community's residential neighborhoods would be arranged according to home prices, with areas for first-time buyers located at the western end of the community and the most expensive homes abutting an area of open space at the eastern end of the land.

A commercial hub, including a hotel-casino, would cluster around the intersection of the beltway and an extension of Simmons Street, with additional commercial centers at the intersection of Centennial Parkway and Simmons Street.

The plan also shows a golf course in the Del Webb community. Developers had said previously that they weren't sure whether they could include the golf course in the project.

In recent weeks, the developers had raised concern over the project's future, because they said they needed an agreement with city officials before paying to full price for the land.

But as both sides reached a compromise over most outstanding issues by Monday's deadline to pay the money, developers went ahead with their plan.