Planned complex may offer 3,600 jobs

Jeffrey Libby

Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2002 | 11:01 a.m.

A 133-acre regional distribution center planned for southwest Henderson could bring as many as 3,600 new jobs and help the city and the Las Vegas Valley compete with other Western distribution hubs, the project developer and city officials say.

The project, to be built by Plise Development and Construction of Las Vegas, also will help wean Henderson from its dependence on the Las Vegas Strip for tourist-related jobs, which require longer commutes, city officials say. The Henderson City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the project, and officials expect to break ground by July and complete it in 2006.

Plise is buying the land from Eliot Alper, who sold his 402-acre private airfield to Clark County in 1996 for $24 million, but has retained much of the undeveloped, surrounding acreage.

The $130 million construction project would include a 2.4 million-square-foot warehouse and office space.

Of that, 1.7 million square feet would accommodate "big box" warehouses, strengthening Henderson's ability to attract national businesses that may otherwise move to such cities as Phoenix, Salt Lake City and Reno, and Southern California, Jeff Leake, an administrator in the city's economic development department, said.

The company estimates that the full project would be a major employment center in the Las Vegas Valley, creating 1,620 to 3,586 jobs. The commerce center should also bring $1.55 million annually in new property taxes.

"We're seeing companies from the East Coast that now want to set up Western manufacturing or distribution centers, and many of them would like to locate here because of the favorable business climate of Nevada," Michael Townsend, president of Plise Development, said, referring to the state's lack of a business tax, relatively cheap labor and low property taxes.

Future tenants will also pay relatively low shipping rates, Townsend said, because Las Vegas imports most of its goods, yet exports very few.

"Las Vegas is kind of like an island. Most everything is shipped from outside. So most trucks have gone back empty," he said.

Twenty-five percent of Henderson's residents work within the city limits, city spokeswoman Vicki Taylor said, a goal the city set for itself in the late 1990s. This project should help maintain that trend as the city grows,

"As with all economic diversity, this lessens our dependence on the tourism industry," Taylor said. "And it allows us in some ways to be more self-sufficient, not just a bedroom community that is dependent on the Strip."