First homes likely to rise in community

Mathis Winkler

Tuesday, March 12, 2002 | 10:04 a.m.

This summer the first 611 homes in a 1,900-acre master-planned community are likely to rise at the northern end of North Las Vegas.

The city's planning commissioners are scheduled to approve tentative maps for four neighborhoods within the proposed community on Wednesday.

Approval is likely because city officials and developers of the project have already hammered out the guidelines for building the community, which sits roughly between Centennial Parkway, Grand Teton Drive, Decatur Boulevard and Clayton Street and will be bisected by the Las Vegas Beltway.

The first homes under construction will include 315 "move-up" houses with a minimum lot size of 5,000 square feet, 148 "upgrade" residences with lots of at least 6,500 square feet and 148 "executive" homes on lots of at least 7,500 square feet.

American Nevada Corp. and Del Webb Corp., partnering as North Valley Enterprises, plan to build a total of 7,500 homes in the community, including a neighborhood for people 55 and older.

"Things are going pretty well," said Phillip Peckman, the chief operating officer of the Greenspun Corporation, which owns American Nevada. The Greenspun family, which publishes the Las Vegas Sun, owns the Greenspun Corporation. Peckman added that "strong demand" for land in the area still exists among home builders.

Build-out of the entire project, which will include a web of trails and parks, commercial areas and schools, is expected to take about seven years and will bring an estimated $1 billion in investment to the city, company and city officials have said.

The community's first residents are likely to move in by early next year, Peckman said.

Planning commissioners will also discuss a proposal by the Clark County School District to build a new high school on a 43-acre lot at the northwest corner of Alexander Road and North Fifth Street. City officials support the proposal and district officials hope to open the new school by the 2003-2004 school year.