Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Redevelopment study launched

Henderson has launched a study that could lead to the creation of the city's largest redevelopment zone in a attempt to revitalize deteriorating neighborhoods, spur industrial development and restore 2,200 acres for a master-planned community.

The City Council on Tuesday authorized a study that could include up to 4,642 acres in a redevelopment zone that extends to the northern city limits on both sides of the Boulder Highway and to the south near downtown. The final size of the zone will be determined after further study and public comments, but it could include older neighborhoods such as Pittman, Eastside and Valley View.

The study area includes the undeveloped 2,200-acre site northeast of Boulder Highway and Lake Mead Parkway where the LandWell Co. and homebuilder Centex Homes are preparing the site for a mixed-use development that will include houses, apartments, parks and trails, offices, retail and industrial.

Most of the former industrial property falls in unincorporated Clark County and needs to be annexed to the city. It is undergoing a cleanup of titanium-refined waste water channeled to evaporative ponds.

By creating a redevelopment zone, Henderson would get 100 percent of the property tax revenue generated by new construction and added value to homes and other property over the next 30 years, said Henderson Redevelopment Manager Robert Ryan. Area governments would continue to divide existing property tax revenue locked in before the creation of any redevelopment zone, he said.

That would allow Henderson to spend the so-called tax increment revenue within the redevelopment zone, Ryan said. Henderson could channel money into the LandWell Co. site by reimbursing the developer for such infrastructure expenses as water and sewer lines and streets, Ryan said. Money could also be spent on oversizing utility lines for adjacent development expected in the future.

Another priority of the zone would be to spur development in underused industrial property between Boulder Highway and U.S. 95, Ryan said. Henderson could use the tax revenue to acquire property and participate with developers on a project, he said.

"I think it will help the development of those areas," Henderson City Manager Phil Speight said. "Anytime you can improve areas that are blighted, it will benefit all the residents as well."

A key facet of the redevelopment zone is the inclusion of aging residential neighborhoods that have pockets of blight and deterioration. That includes the Pittman neighborhood that has homes to go as far back as the 1920s and the Valley View subdivision dating to the 1940s, Ryan said.

Ryan said the neighborhoods have some abandoned and unoccupied properties and other homes in need of maintenance and repair. Many long-time owners have died or moved away and the area has many absentee landlords renting to low-income residents.

As neighborhoods become more and more blighted and property values decline, they require more police and other city services, Ryan said. Declining areas can drag down the entire city, simply by perception, he said.

"My feeling is that including that in the redevelopment area can help that part of town," Councilman Andy Hafen said. "It makes sense to me because it is one of the older areas of town."

Councilwoman Amanda Cyphers said the aging residential areas need a "little TLC (tender loving care) as they continue to mature. She said residents shouldn't fear that the city will create a redevelopment zone to use eminent domain powers and bulldoze homes for projects. She called it a beautification program.

"This is a warm-and-fuzzy program to assist neighborhoods," Cyphers said.

No residents appeared Tuesday to speak on the study that could take six to 12 months to complete.

Henderson could spend the tax revenue in neighborhoods on improving aging infrastructure such as street lights, traffic signals and storm drains and for programs that dole out grants and loans to rehabilitate homes, Ryan said.

"Perhaps there are not enough street lights and people feel like the crime rate is too high in some of the areas," Ryan said.

Henderson will meet with area residents on Thursday to gauge their interest in the proposed zone and what improvements they would like in the neighborhoods. If residents don't want to be included in a zone, city officials said they don't want to force the issue.

Henderson has three other redevelopment zones. The downtown zone is the largest at 1,307 acres.

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