Las Vegas has big plans for NW area

Friday, May 3, 2002 | 11:11 a.m.

When Sue Mariano looks out her living room window, she has a stunning view of the Las Vegas Valley.

Mariano fears that a proposal to develop about 1,200 acres in the northwest valley could block that view. Mariano and her husband, Jack Mariano, own one of a half-dozen homes that are in an area targeted for annexation and development by the city of Las Vegas.

Chris Knight, Las Vegas deputy planning director, said the city needs the land to keep growing. Las Vegas is working with developer Focus Commercial Group to bring perhaps 5,500 homes and supporting commercial development to the area bordered by Centennial Parkway to the south, Hualapai Way to the east, the still-unconstructed Puli Road to the west and Grand Teton Road to the north.

"This is where we have to go for our growth and development," Knight said.

About half of the land is now owned by the federal government. Las Vegas has asked the Bureau of Land Management to auction off the 795 acres of federal land in May 2003.

"There is no guarantee that we will be the successful bidder, although we will be a motivated bidder," Focus Commercial Group President John Ritter said. The company already has the rights to about 75 percent of the private "in-holdings" within the 1,200 acres, he said.

The company and the city have worked together to develop an early plan to determine how the area might look when it is developed.

Acquiring the federal and privately owned land is central to the city's and the company's hopes to develop the project as a single master-planned community, similar to Focus Commercial Group's other efforts in the Lone Mountain area.

"We have the ability to assemble the pieces," Ritter said. He hopes the company can acquire all of the private pieces of land that do not now include homes. Otherwise, there could be five-acre islands of undeveloped land in the middle of the group's project -- a scenario that has occurred with at least one of the company's projects in the northwest valley.

Ritter said the company wants to build a complete community similar to Summerlin, Howard Hughes Corp.'s project that serves as a template for similar efforts in Southern Nevada and nationwide.

That means a mix of upscale homes along with multi-family apartments and condominiums; parks and walking trails; schools and a lot of landscaping.

It is a formula that the region's cities and Clark County planners generally support because it guarantees a comprehensively planned package that includes needed infrastructure.

Ritter and Knight emphasized that the group's project is only in the early conceptual stages. But both said the concept is attractive for the city, the company -- and for potential residents.

The city could win by expanding its borders, population and tax base.

The company could win by having a project that is ideally suited for workers at the new Town Center commercial development in the city's northwest and for commuters to downtown and the Strip.

One of the attractions for a developer is the area's easy access to two growing transportation conduits: the Las Vegas Beltway nicks the southeast corner of the land, providing relatively easy access to the southern valley and south end of the Strip, and U.S. 95 -- now in the midst of a $440 million expansion -- is just a few miles to the east.

Potential residents would also be attracted by the proximity to the Red Rock National Conservation Area and Lone Mountain Park, and by the views of the valley. If Focus Commercial Group wins the land auction and can develop the property, new residents also could enjoy 30 acres of parks and extensive open space, Ritter said.

Within the planned development, Focus Commercial Group would build elementary and middle schools. The area already has one school: Centennial High School, which opened in 1999, is tucked into the southeast corner of the land.

Sue and Jack Mariano live less than a half-mile away from the high school in one of four homes sharing a community well.

Jack Mariano said the couple built their retirement home three years ago to be in an isolated area, but he does not necessarily resent development around him.

But he said the county government, which now has jurisdiction over the area, told him that the area would be protected from intensive development.

In fact the county, in an agreement last year with the city government, said the area would be appropriate for annexation and development. Areas nearby are expressly protected, but not the Mariano's property.

Jack Mariano said that's OK with him -- "as long as they put in high-end homes" to match the upscale residences that are now there.

Sue Mariano, however, fears "a great big mess" when construction starts.

"I don't know how much view we'll have when houses are built," she said.

Ritter said the Marianos and the handful of residents now in the target property will not have much to worry about.

Focus Commercial Group, if it wins the bid and can develop the project, will buffer the existing homes with similar upscale properties, he said.

And the views will likely be protected because the company likes to build homes in a way that provides city and mountain vistas, Ritter said.

"In all of our planning, when a new project abuts or surrounds existing development, we try to make that compatible with what's existing," Knight agreed.

The Marianos and their neighbors will have a chance to discuss their concerns and potentially mitigate any unwanted effects.

Any development that will occur will happen only after months of public hearings, said Mark Fiorentino, an attorney working with Focus Commercial Group. The company also would talk with affected residents before any plan goes to the public, he added. "This is where we have to go for our growth and development."