City land sold to developer

Dan Kulin

Thursday, May 5, 2005 | 9:35 a.m.

Almost 3 acres of vacant land owned by Las Vegas was sold to a local developer for $808,700 on Wednesday.

The Las Vegas City Council voted 7-0 to approve the sale of 2.8 acres at Hualapi Way and Gilmore Avenue, in the northwest, to Lone Mountain Villas LLC, which also has plans to develop about 4.3 acres on the south end of the city property.

The developer paid $2 million for those 4.3 acres in November, which is equal to about $466,200 per acre.

Lone Mountain Villas paid roughly $287,793 an acre for the city land.

Councilman Larry Brown, whose ward includes both properties, said the 4.3 acres was zoned for commercial uses and so had a higher value than the city land, which is zoned for residential development. Brown also said that because of the location of the city land -- it is between a park and Hualapi -- the land had "limited value" to anyone except Lone Mountain Villas because they have the land to the south.

The city acquired the 2.8 acres in 2003 as part of a land deal involving the Bureau of Land Management and the Focus Property Group. In that deal, the BLM sold 15 acres for almost $2.3 million, and Focus, which paid the $2.3 million, received 9 acres while the city received the rest of the land for free, said John McNellis, a deputy director of the city Public Works Department.