Editorial: Housing is a good start toward redevelopment

Monday, Feb. 23, 2004 | 9:20 a.m.

For decades the city of Henderson has been growing farther and farther away from its downtown core. As upscale developments have sprung up all around, few improvements have been made to the original townsite. The result is a mishmash of aging homes and empty storefronts.

The city's redevelopment agency was not getting anywhere with the traditional approach of soliciting general proposals and hoping developers would respond. It's new strategy of working one-on-one with developers on specific concepts seems to be paying off. One critical aspect to long-range redevelopment is housing. The agency is now working with an experienced developer on a plan to convert nine older homes owned by the city, and two others if the city can acquire them from their owners, into a condominium development that would attract young professionals.

No deal has been presented to the redevelopment agency or City Council, so it's impossible to say whether this particular project is good or bad. But we can say the concept is sound. Many people work in downtown Henderson but live elsewhere. Attractive housing for people with disposable incomes could lead to restaurants, shops and service businesses that would, together, begin revitalizing the city's core.