County approves three towering condo projects

Thursday, Nov. 4, 2004 | 9:36 a.m.

The Clark County Commission on Wednesday approved a trio of high-rise condominium projects, including a 465-foot, 36-story project on 2 acres at Harmon and Aldebaran avenues.

The approvals come as the county is still working to write new rules governing such high rises. Commissioner Lynette Boggs McDonald said she supported the project, done in the name of John Morally Trust, at Harmon and Aldebaran because it will eventually be within the area near the Strip where such projects are appropriate.

The developer is Las Vegas Supply Co., owner of the property, attorney Chris Kaempfer said.

County planners had argued that the project, to be home to 255 condominium units, should not be approved because much of the surrounding area is industrial. Kaempfer successfully argued that much of the surrounding area already has changed.

He cited the Panorama Towers project at Harmon and Industrial Road, about a mile away, as an example of similar projects already approved by the County Commission. Approval came with a 6-0 vote.

The commission also approved a mixed-use development with two towers of 545 feet and more than 40 stories on Sierra Vista Drive near Swenson Drive and Paradise Road. The project, named Las Vegas Central, is planned by Langson Development of Las Vegas.

Bruce Langson, company president, said the $300 million project would likely begin in the summer of 2005 and take 18 months to complete.

The commission also approved three 248-foot, 18-story towers on 15 acres on Maule Avenue, near Buffalo Drive in Spring Valley.

The project is planned by Las Vegas developer Rodney Yanke. Representatives for the developer said the project would include state-of-the-art noise reduction in response to concerns raised by Clark County Aviation Department Director Randy Walker that noise could be a problem for residents.

Walker said 75 percent of flights from McCarran International Airport would fly over the planned development of about 400 luxury condominiums.

Former Nevada governor and senator Richard Bryan said the noise reduction measures would include automatically sealing patio doors, permanently sealed windows and enclosed pools.

"You would be setting the gold standard by which all over projects of this kind would be approved," he told the commission.

Bryan said that projects such at this, named Spanish View Tower Homes, have significant environmental advantages.

"If this project were done in a form of single family (homes), you would have to have some 1,500 acres," Bryan said. "This is on 15 acres."

The compactness of the 3,300-square-foot condominiums with shared common areas also leads to a 90 percent reduction in water use compared to single-family homes, he said.

Construction on the $400 million project is expected to begin early next year and take about 12 months.