New NLV community, casino are raising questions

Monday, April 17, 2006 | 7:24 a.m.

A development company that paid a record $639 million for 2,675 acres of federal land in North Las Vegas plans to build more than 16,000 homes and a proposed casino anchoring the development.

But while City Council approval of the development agreement, to be formally unveiled Wednesday, is expected in May, it will not come without questions about the project's density and potential opposition to building another casino in North Las Vegas.

The Olympia Group has proposed housing densities that are nearly double what North Las Vegas allowed in neighboring Aliante - but that are in line with other recent developments in the Las Vegas Valley.

Under the development agreement, Olympia will be able to petition the City Council in the future to build a resort casino. But because a casino is sited nearby, where Station Casinos plans to construct Aliante Station in 2007-2008, approval of another casino is far from certain.

Mayor Mike Montandon raised eyebrows in December when he said North Las Vegas already had enough casino-zoned land and did not need any more in the Olympia project. He admits he is still wrestling with the issue.

"This is one of the most controversial and difficult issues I have had to deal with since I have been mayor," said Montandon, who was first elected in 1997.

"I think it is a split issue. There a lot of people who don't want to live on the Strip - they don't want gaming in their neighborhood. But there are a lot of people who believe gaming is our job and they would rather go to work close to home."

Councilman Robert Eliason said he is keeping an open mind, but he told Olympia officials before they bid on the land that he would be hard-pressed to approve additional gaming. Gaming is more appropriate for the Interstate 15 and 215 corridors instead, he said.

"I don't want it in our neighborhoods," Eliason said. "Residents have said they don't want any more. They don't want the traffic. It is going to be a big concern already with the kind of densities they are requesting."

Olympia partner Guy Inzalaco, though reluctant to discuss the project in detail pending the council's action, called gaming an important component of any successful master plan.

Realtor Fafie Moore noted that while some residents do not want a casino because of concerns over traffic and appearance, many like the concept because it offers amenities such as movie theaters and restaurants.

"A lot of people you see there are your neighbors, because people don't want to drive across town," Moore said.

Aliante eventually will have 6,500 homes on 1,905 acres, about 3.4 homes per acre. In contrast, Olympia's 16,040 housing units equals six homes per acre.

"I have an issue with that," Eliason said. "That is too dense. We said we would use Aliante as a starting point (for Olympia). With that kind of density, a lot of people will get angry fast."

The development agreement calls for 130 acres of parks and trails throughout the 2,675 acres. Three hundred acres of Bureau of Land Management property on the site also has been set aside as a conservation area.

Montandon said the market has changed since American Nevada Company and Del Webb Communities paid $47 million for Aliante in a 2001 federal auction. That $24,671-per-acre price is about one-tenth the $238,868 per acre paid by Olympia.

"Right now the market has changed," Montandon said. "There will be more mixed-use and higher densities."

A density of six homes per acre is comparable to other valley developments, said Brian Gordon, a principal with research firm Applied Analysis. The Focus Property Group, for example, plans 11,500 homes on 1,953 acres - 5.8 per acre - at its Inspirada development in Henderson, a project featuring a "New Urbanist" concept with dense, pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods interconnected with narrow streets, village squares and open space.

"Given the cost of raw land, density is the key to viability," Gordon said. "It is not out of line what you are seeing in other developments."

Sharon Powers, executive director of the North Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, said the higher densities are simply the way of doing business today.

"In a perfect world, if land was not as expensive and scarce as it is, we would want to see less density," Powers said. "But that's the reality of what the Olympia Group paid for the land."

Moore predicts that higher density developments will be popular with people who understand that by trading a patch of grass in their yard, they will gain more community open space.

"People on the East Coast live in this lifestyle for years, but with so much land available in the West, we have just not adopted it," Moore said.

"Now that more and more people are working at home, they don't have the same social interaction and are looking to live in an environment where when they come out of their home, they can see and interact with other people."

Under the development agreement, Olympia will be required to donate land for a fire station, elementary schools and one middle school, to donate 130 acres for parks and trails, to build and partially equip a fire station, and to construct a police command station and library. The developer also would be required to build portions of Grand Teton Drive.