Business is booming in NLV

Kevin Rademacher

Sunday, Nov. 13, 2005 | 7:32 a.m.

In the 1980s James York saw builders set their sights on both North Las Vegas and Henderson, two cities with strong industrial roots.

Henderson blossomed as the Green Valley master-planned community grew.

"But North Las Vegas kind of fizzled," said York, who grew up in that city and recently launched the Bank of North Las Vegas. "It plateaued while Henderson took off."

Two decades later, North Las Vegas is back in the game.

Over the past several months, it has been on the receiving end of several high-profile corporate announcements. Not the least of those is Qualcomm Inc.'s 265,000-square-foot, $100 million facility in the city. The center will house Qualcomm's new MediaFlo venture, which develops video services for cell phones and other hand-held devices.

Also under way in North Las Vegas is technology equipment supplier CDW Corp.'s 513,000-square-foot West Coast distribution center.

Other companies now calling North Las Vegas home include Upper Deck Co., the Carlsbad, Calif.-based sports card company, which will operate a 75-employee warehouse and distribution center. May Manufacturing LLC also is setting up a North Las Vegas headquarters and manufacturing facility. The former Victorville, Calif.-based company manufactures Artesian Spas.

Those projects alone would create nearly 750 jobs.

There also are plans for a satellite UNLV campus in North Las Vegas.

The flurry of activity grows as the Aliante master-planned community continues to take shape. When it's completed, Aliante will have 7,000 homes and 20,000 residents on its 1,905 acres.

"The perception of North Las Vegas, it's changed so dramatically," Mayor Michael Montandon said.

He recalled 10 years ago when he was on a "kick" to get people to stop using the derogatory "North Town" moniker for the city.

"It really never comes up now," Montandon said.

John Restrepo of the Las Vegas-based Restrepo Consulting Group said the change in perception happened quickly.

"When I moved here in late 1988 ... it was North Town," he said. "I've been amazed at how quickly it's changed around. A few years ago ... it just had a bad image. We are seeing a turnaround."

One of the key factors in that turnaround is the availability of land.

At a recent meeting of the Las Vegas Office of Business Development, Michael Majewski, head of the North Las Vegas Economic Development Department, gleefully pointed out: "We are not land-challenged."

Restrepo said availability of land -- along with access to the interstate and rail lines -- will drive activity in North Las Vegas.

"They also have relatively -- and I emphasize relatively -- less expensive housing than is available in other parts of the valley," he said. "That's a big plus."

The drawback, Restrepo said, is that the city does not have its share of office buildings and retail developments. "But that will come," he said. "Those things follow housing ... It just takes time to get built."

While North Las Vegas currently lacks a regional mall, two have been proposed.

In August, the North Las Vegas City Council amended its master plan to allow a 160-acre mixed-use development that includes a 1.5 million-square-foot retail and entertainment complex with a movie theater, restaurants and office space. The unnamed mall at the southeast corner of North Fifth Street and Craig Road is a project of the Mendenhall Family Trust and Nelson Ventures.

In the coming weeks, the council also will consider the Northview project, which includes a commercial area of 1.7 million square feet. The Binion family project includes a nongaming hotel, movie theater and five anchor stores at the northwest corner of Centennial Parkway and Losee Road.

Officials have said only one project is likely to be built because they are less than four miles apart. The projects also face competition from Triple Five Nevada's proposed Great Mall of Las Vegas, near U.S. 95 and the Las Vegas Beltway.

The 2 million-square-foot Great Mall property is eight miles from the Northview site and 6 1/2 miles from the other proposed mall.

While few doubt that challenges remain, York, with two decades' perspective behind him, likes what he sees in North Las Vegas these days.

"I think the city is really ready to blossom," York said.

Kevin Rademacher can be reached at 259-4069 or at kevinr@lasvegassun.com.