Development breaks ground in Henderson

Jennifer Shubinski

Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2005 | 10:39 a.m.

A local development company and the city of Henderson broke ground this morning on the first downtown mixed-use project to be built in more than 30 years in the Henderson Water Street District.

VLP Investments LLC, led by owner Vicki L. Pullen, is the first to dive head first into the city's redevelopment plans for downtown Henderson. The city of has been pushing downtown redevelopment for years, making Water Street a pedestrian-friendly area of downtown.

"We are starting to see the vision starting to happen, it's exciting for us," said Rob Ryan, Henderson redevelopment manager.

The 15,000-square-foot, three-story building will include offices and a coffeehouse and bakery on the first floor. The $2 million project, at the southeast corner Water and Atlantic Avenue, is expected to be completed in August or September, Pullen said.

Despite many empty store fronts that dot Water Street, Pullen said she wouldn't consider building the Pinnacle, as the office building will be called, anywhere but downtown Henderson.

"My husband was born and raised here, and we want to see it brought back up," Pullen, herself a 20-year resident, said today. "There's a sense of community and I like that."

The city is providing financial assistance in the form of a $600,000 low-interest loan that will be repaid to the city within five years, Ryan said.

Ryan said it's a good investment for the city because it will not only help spark interest in downtown, it will broaden the area's tax base.

Other projects are also slated to start this year in the downtown Henderson area.

A few blocks south of the Pinnacle, a sign announces plans for a two-story office building, to be built by retired city Construction Manager John Simmons and architect Ron Hall, on city-owned land at the southeast corner of Basic Road and Water Street.

That project is expected to begin within the next two months, pending a plan check from the Redevelopment Agency Board, which is comprised of city council members, Ryan said. Plans call for retail on the ground floor and offices on the second floor.

In addition to the land, the city plans to invest almost $1.4 million in redevelopment funds into the project, Ryan said.

A residential project also is still in the works at the intersection of Basic Road and Pacific Avenue. Construction on the Parkline Lofts, which will include 65 units, is slated to begin this spring, said Jack Webb, the project's developer.

He said the two-story project, in the works for a year, had to undergo a redesign because of the increase in construction costs.