Pardee to develop in area north of valley

Jennifer Shubinski

Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2004 | 10:54 a.m.

Pardee Homes will be the primary residential developer for a proposed master-planned community -- almost 20,000 acres larger than Summerlin -- about 60 miles north of Las Vegas along U.S. 93.

Pardee Homes is under contract for 2,000 acres and has an option to buy up to an additional 13,000 acres for residential development in the 42,000-acre Coyote Springs golf course community in Lincoln and Clark counties, said Harvey Whittemore, a developer and gaming lobbyist who owns the Coyote Springs land.

The first 2,000-acre phase, which will include about 7,000 homes, will begin next year, said Klif Andrews, Pardee vice president of community development. Neither the sales price nor the value of the option-to-buy was disclosed.

Coyote Springs is larger than the master-planned community of Summerlin, which encompasses 22,500 acres and is expected to have a population between 160,000 to 180,000 people upon completion in 2020.

Plans for Coyote Springs include about 12,000 acres for "open space," such as parks and wildlife habitats, and about 30,000 acres for development of which 20,000 acres would be set aside for residential development, the partners said.

Grading and preparation of the community's first golf course and village center will begin next month, Whittemore said. The community will be open for the sales of its first homes in 2007, Andrews said.

Many area homebuilders have been looking outside the Las Vegas area for more affordable developable land as the valley's land prices have soared in the past year.

William Lyon Homes in August announced plans to develop a 900-acre community in Pahrump. Other builders have signaled their interest in moving to the area's outlying communities as well.

Andrews said there will be a price advantage by going outside the valley but said the move isn't just about offering lower prices. Prices for the houses were not announced.

"There is a value to going out a little ways, but it's about amenities and being outside Las Vegas," he said.

Whittemore said by going farther out, Pardee can offer a better valued home at a "little" more affordable price.

Dennis Smith, president of research firm Home Builders Research Inc., said he expects prices to be at least $100,000 less than what they are selling for in the Las Vegas Valley. He said the lower prices will open up homeownership to more people and will make golf-course living more affordable as well.

"It's only half an hour from the Air Force base. I think it's a huge move by Pardee; it's a great move," Smith said.

In addition to the 50,000 homes planned for Coyote Springs, is a series of Jack Nicklaus Signature golf courses, a golf training facility, vacation golf homes, custom lots, multifamily housing, and commercial and retail developments, Whittemore said.

The announcement came on the same day that House lawmakers approved a Lincoln County land management bill aimed in part at tapping water in the rural county for transport to the Las Vegas Valley.

The bill would give the Southern Nevada Water Authority land it needs for a water pipeline corridor between Clark and Lincoln Counties.

Some have said the act would unfairly benefit Whittemore because it could ease the development of private land. Nevada's congressional members have said the provision simply aligns the utility corridor with a water utility corridor just west of U.S. 93.

Whittemore said the act, of which a version must still pass the Senate, was not a condition of the Pardee transaction.

"It was important, but it was not the most important thing," he said.

Whittemore said the utility line already reaches the western edge of his property.

Whittemore said he spoke with numerous homebuilding companies about development agreements, but settled on Pardee Homes -- among the valley's top five homebuilders in terms of number of homes sold -- because of what he called the company's leadership and environmental commitment.

"We had significant interest from a number of different groups," he said. "It was a great fit with how I got along with their senior management, their environmental commitment, including their Energy Star program."

Pardee Homes was named an Energy Star Partner of the Year by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2003 and 2004. The company rolled out its LivingSmart program in Las Vegas last year, offering EnergySmart features such as solar power, recycled pop bottle carpeting and bamboo flooring and desert landscaped yards.

Andrews said Pardee Homes, which closed 1,135 homes in Southern Nevada in 2003 with total sales revenue of more than $880 million, most likely will sell land parcels to other homebuilders for development.

Whittemore is no stranger to master-planned developments.

He oversaw the 10-year development of the 2,500-acre Wingfield Springs golf course community in Sparks. That community has 4,000 homes, golf course homes, restaurants and a Hale Irwin Signature golf course and Robert Trent Jones Jr. golf course.