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StumblePlan for 238 new homes in Mountain’s Edge advances
A view of the master-planned community Mountain’s Edge in the southwest Las Vegas Valley on Friday, Aug. 6, 2010.
Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010 | 12:28 p.m.
Map of Mountain's Edge
Mountain's Edge
Las Vegas
Sun Coverage
- New communities falling short of their master plans (8-10-2010)
- Zoning board OKs changes to Mountain’s Edge park plans (8-4-2010)
- Developers submit plans for Mountain’s Edge projects (7-29-2010)
- When housing boomed, so did park-building. (7-3-2009)
- Rhodes Homes faces uphill climb to emerge from bankruptcy (5-8-2009)
Beyond the Sun
Despite dropping sales since 2008, developers still are planning new projects in Mountain’s Edge. Lennar Homes received preliminary approval Wednesday for a 238-unit single-family home community at the Enterprise town board meeting.
Jasmine Falls at Mountain’s Edge would cover 20 acres near the corner of Buffalo Drive and Cactus Avenue.
Lennar replaced previous plans to put condominiums or triplex apartments on the site with a less dense single-family home approach to reflect the changing market, said Robert Johnson, who represented the company at the meeting.
The developer requested a number of fairly standard waivers, including allowing early grading to begin construction sooner and modified street improvements that align with the rest of the communities in Mountain’s Edge.
However, Gene Leed, a resident at Mountain’s Edge who represented a contingent of homeowners, voiced concerns about the availability of green space following the decision of master developer Focus Property Group to cut back on parks. He said homeowners also were worried about the ability of residents to make left turns onto Buffalo Drive.
Another area of contention was the flood channel on the southern edge of Jasmine Falls, where Lennar had requested an easement of interest by Clark County.
After Focus abandoned its original plan to turn those channels into small parks with tree lines and walkways, the Mountain’s Edge master homeowners association has instead been deeded storm drainage pipes covered with dirt and unimproved by other developers, Leed said.
Leed pointed out that this had already happened at the development to the east of Jasmine Falls.
The HOA is then responsible for maintaining and securing those channels, Leed said, costs that are funneled into each resident’s monthly HOA fees.
Johnson said he wasn't aware of that problem at other developments and Lennar would work with the HOA.
To assuage some of Leed’s concerns, the town board mandated that a traffic study be completed for the site and that a pool, cabana and barbecue pit -- already parts of Lennar’s plans -- be built during the first phase of construction at Jasmine Falls.
Sales at Mountain’s Edge have fallen from a peak of 2,300 in 2005 to 600 in 2009.
The application will go before the county planning commission on Sept. 21 for final approval.
Discussion: 4 comments so far…
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It is almost inconceivable that anyone would want to start a new development of this scale right now. Residents in the area should be up in arms over this if for no other reason it will only further drive down the value of existing property.
Drive down any street in Mountains Edge and at least 1/3 or more of the homes are empty.
The only reason they would approve this is so they can say the job market is improving.
Home values in Mountains Edge will continue to drop and the break-ins will continue to rise.
Plus, there is not enough water!
I live in ME, don't buy here. The Clark County COmmisioners have backed Focus Group. They no longer have to build parks or any of the other ammenities promised by the sales staff. The CCC has also backed out of a PROMISED regional park.
Where I come from someone's word is as good as a written contract. Not so in Vegas.
If you know anyone who is thinking of buying in this community, please discourage them if they have families.
Just what we need, more vacant houses for squatters to move into.
This reminds me of Forrest Gump..."Stupid is as stupid does."
Bush "ownership society" created housing bubble.
People that blame CRA for housing collapse are racists, trying to blame "minorities, ACORN and immigrants" for the housing collapse.
Only one out of the top 8 banks bailed out (bail out started under Bush) was subject to the CRA.
Lake Las Vegas, all the high-rise problems are due to the CRA? Give us a break!
The average foreclosure home is a first or second time move up home, not some entry level "CRA" home. Since 76% of homes in Vegas area are upside down, that represents more than a relative handful of "low-income homes."
just what the doctor ordered, more urban sprawl. i cant imagine who would be dumb enough to buy in vegas right now; no water, lousy schools and no jobs.
hahahahahaha
WTF.
This a joke?
stupid. while yes it will put people to work, but for what 1 year? why do we need more crammed up homes in mtns edge? more crammed homes with no backyards in a community that is overcrowded looking and i agree with 1/3 vacant comment above as well.
First of all, where in the heck are the 'falls'?? These silly names crack me up.
Secondly, the fact that any new residential construction is taking place while so many houses sit vacant is preposterous.
I will make sure to attend the county planning commission on Sept. 21 to see how this turns out. If this does not get shot down, I'll be sure to picket and protest the opening of this development.
This is Bullshot. They are not finishing the dream parks that where promised to the first bunch of suckers. Buyer beware. Mountains Edge sells a dream then does not even service the nightmare. Lennar could give a shot less.
Please contact me, I want to be the 1st to buy!!!!!
Just one thing. They are not worth more than $25,000 bucks. Tops.
$500 down, $400 month. Tops.
3/2/2. Buy and flip in 2056 for a $300 profit.
Most of the homes put on the market here are bank owned, foreclosures and short sales. Speaking from experience trying to buy one of them is beyond a headache. Delays, no response to offers, then accept offers and a week later cancel. The banks are jerking around to no end with all these empty homes. It got to the point I would rather deal with a builder, pay a little more and at least know where I stand. You can close almost immediately. With the banks...the process could take 6-9 months and even then there is no guarantee they will honor the offer. I can understand why Lennar wants to proceed.
tom: Agree. I was trying to buy two cheapo rental houses about 8 months ago. I tried short sales, foreclosures, you name it. I was agreeing to pay what they ASKED FOR and most of the time the realtor would say its been approved, just to have some stupid reason why it gets cancelled two weeks later, or 'taking off the market'.
I think there should be LAWS in place, when a bank or any organization puts a price on a house, and you agree to purchase it FOR THAT PRICE THEY ASK, they should by law have to close the deal.
Where's that Righthaven RJ lawyer firm, I may have a new avenue of revenue for them.
One day I'll try again, next time screw the useless realtors that don't know anything, I want to deal directly with the banks, somehow...!?
WTF.
I don't understand why so many people are against this. Lennar is a company (that is not government backed). You people complaining about this were the same people praising Obama and the bailout package. If Lennar feels they can make money, let them build the homes. If it goes bust, they'll eat it. Simple economics. Good for them to see an opportunity and try and make the most of it. Mountains Edge is a nice community, it's good to see there are still people willing to build there.
How much did they have to donate to Rory Reid to get this idiot project authorized?
nez212. I do not know the exact amount but I am sure it was the same amount paid to Brager.
I tried by passing the realtor. Called the bank directly. After going thru 4 people who had no clue what they were doing, finally got a manager who said "yes, we own the property but you have to go thru a realtor to buy it"
Most of these banks are low balling the asking price to attract interest. They have no intention of selling it at asking price. The idea is to bring in as many people to "bid up" this so called great deal. There could be 3 owner homes on the market for 100k...the bank will throw theirs up for 80k. They get most of the traffic coming thru and hope 5 or 6 people will overbid because they think they are getting a deal. It's the same sh*t game they've been playing since this collapse happened. Then the 1 who bid the highest will get jerked around for months while the bank waits for other offers or the market to slightly improve.
Italiangal: Is Susan a carpet bagger like Titus and Barbara buckley? her Bio's are very unclear as to where she came from. Sounds like corruption to me.
This makes as much sense as it is giving a transfusion to an amputated limb. Total insanity.
Save this article for your grand-children to show the Las Vegas that 'once was' and why it went bust.
you can over bid all you want. asking price of 100k, you bid 200k, but if the appraiser says its worth 109k, thats what you will pay for it if you are the winning bidder. in a nutshell anyway. theres more to it but thats a basic idea.
the banks are goofing off hoping the values go up over their asking price to take less on a loss.
Let's keep doing the same thing over and over, and expect a different result. So say the insane real estate industry, and their shills like bigs.
@TomD, I agree with you. I recently tried to buy two different condos that were banked owned. One of them I found already had an offer, we made a HIGHER offer, but the bank went with the other one as they already had rapport with the buyer? The bank had not accepted the other buyer's offer and could have made extra if they took mine.
The next one I put in an offer, nothing from the bank in days. Then one day at 5pm my realtor told me the bank wanted a "highest and best" offer by 10am the next morning as there were multiple offers. So, I'm now bidding against myself? I'm ok bidding against another party knowing what the other side is doing and going to my max.. but to just throw it out there blindly? That's ridiculous. I didn't raise my price and I didn't get that condo either. So, I gave up.
The banks are making it so difficult to buy a home that I too would rather just buy a new one from a builder.
The reason why this is not a good place to live is because Mountains Edge is located right where Jumbo Jet Aircraft have to take off from McCarran airport. There is a lot of noise and the Jet exhaust is detrimental to someones health long term. It's located on the "take off" side of the landing strip. Not the "landing side". The "take off" side is the worst place to live. You get all of the noise and all of the unhealthy jet fuel exhaust which is essentially Kerosene that is partially unburned after it passed through a turbo-fan jet engine. It's laced with carcinogens, particulates, carbon, sulfur and all the other stuff you don't want to breath.
Avitech,,,, where is a 'good' place to move to?? I was looking at Stallion Mtn. and Solara-Pulte developments as they are the 55+ housing areas.
Any help would be great. Thanks....
@mawzy, A good place to move to in Las Vegas is in Henderson Nevada or a subdivision called "Anthem". Also a suburb known as, "Summerlin" is a very wise choice as well. You need a car that gets good gas mileage, high safety ratings, and has a powerful air conditioner. The only way to find out beforehand is by renting a model first or if you have a friend or relative that owns one particular model.
Just stay away from North Las Vegas (downtown area)....Summerlin is nice, Henderson. The further west you are from the airport the less the plane noise becomes an issue. The planes are usually turning to head east before they get close to the mountains edge area. Really not an issue.
I would not be so quick to believe this story one way or the other. Who really knows what Lennar is up to? Are they posturing to their creditors? Is there a low-ball bid on the land? They can pull permits or seek waivers all day long - that's far from actually staple gunning chicken wire to the Tyvek and slapping the mud on another 238 cardboard cribs on the edge of nowhere!
The cover photo of this story with all of the roof tops makes it look like an over crowded tent city. Seeing neigbhorhoods like that makes me appreciate areas like Lake Las Vegas & McDonald Highland where the houses don't seem so close together.
Great. It will employ construction workers and keep building suppliers busy.
i saw these mountain edge dumps 2 weeks ago.
waaaaaaaaay overpriced. poor workmanship. awful layout. no stores, gas stations, etc nearby. the sales lady was doing everything she could do to get us into one of the spec homes.
inside the sales office they have a display of the streets with homes on top and all but 4 spaces showed sold signs on them. i asked if they really only had 4 homes left and the sales lady told me no. i asked why they were showing the homes as sold and was met with a subject-change... i ignored what she was saying and went to my car and left.
i have 2 offers in on foreclosed properties in the southwest rhodes ranch area. i would rather wait for the homes that once sold for $350k+ to get released for under $140k close to what it cost to build the home, then get an overpriced, underdeveloped piece of junk that they want $200k for.
and lol at my realtor the other day telling me she was upside down on her home and that no one could have ever predicted this... vegas was built on people like her.
Just who do they think is going to buy these houses? My bet is that they'll look like 'Desert Mesa' in a few years.
Being that I only visit Vegas on occasion, I am not familiar with the Mountains Edge area. But having said that, building homes in currently one of the worst housing markets in America is not too bright of an idea. Who is gonna buy one of these houses? It might be better served to build smaller houses that families can afford. Although it could create some temporary construction jobs, which is a good thing. Just my thoughts.
Whoa, I just saw the Desert Mesa pictures. That's terrible. Tear them down!!
The good news in this article, they are taking an area once planned for apartments and 3-plexes (read, crime ridden slums) and wanting to build single family homes. The neighbors should rejoice that decision. Over the last 30 years, I have worked on various large scale developments in California, Nevada (LV), Oklahoma and Texas. One thing they all had in common: when the final plans were drawn, they didn't include much of the parks, lakes, pools, horse trails, greenbelts, etc. that were on the initial conceptual maps.
@Bakersfield
So people can buy the homes cheap as rental properties and rent to the type of people who live in crime ridden slums? That's happening all over the city. The people from the "hood" are moving around in houses where the landlord is desperate to get tenants. It's just spreading around now.
The Southwest is actually pretty nice - I have a home in Rhodes Ranch just up the street from Mountains Edge - I wouldn't live anywhere else in the city. That said - Rhodes Ranch has a lot more to offer with amenities than mountains edge - It sounds like there is some issue with the open space. But living on the edge of the city near the mountains and open desert is great for access to hiking and biking.
until this madness stabilizes i dont see any sense in buying a home in vegas anywhere. why would you want to live in an area of empty houses? section 8 tenants?
steves: rhodes ranch is awesome. i'm looking to get a place inside the gates as well as one up off ft apache/oquendo area. we chose this area over summerlin and gvr.
The morons who are building this project and the morans who appoved it should be locked up and have their heads examined. And the ignorant morons who are buying as well. I don't understand this. It out in nowheres land and when so many homes are still going under here. That is if you keep your job you maybe able to buy. You can get cheaper homes inside and fix up at a better price. This is about laziness in not doing the right thing. The crisis has not bottomed out here. This is speculators buying again. Las Vegas has not learned its lesson. Here we go again but this time when the prices go up, I am getting out. I won't go through it again.
Thank ou Harry Reid..for nothing ..
you voted for this POS???
Second Wave: Obamacare
There are over twenty new or higher taxes in Obamacare. Several will first go into effect on January 1, 2011. They include:
The Tanning Tax. This went into effect on July 1st of this year. It imposes a new, 10% excise tax on getting a tan at a tanning salon. There is no exemption for tanners making less than $250,000 per year.
The "Medicine Cabinet Tax" Thanks to Obamacare, Americans will no longer be able to use health savings account (HSA), flexible spending account (FSA), or health reimbursement (HRA) pre-tax dollars to purchase non-prescription, over-the-counter medicines (except insulin).
The HSA Withdrawal Tax Hike. This provision of Obamacare increases the additional tax on non-medical early withdrawals from an HSA from 10 to 20 percent, disadvantaging them relative to IRAs and other tax-advantaged accounts, which remain at 10 percent.
Brand Name Drug Tax. Starting next year, there will be a multi-billion dollar tax assessment imposed on name-brand drug manufacturers. This tax, like all excise taxes, will raise the price of medicine, hurting everyone.
Economic Substance Doctrine. The IRS is now empowered to disallow perfectly-legal tax deductions and maneuvers merely because it judges that the deduction or action lacks "economic substance." This is obviously an arbitrary empowerment of IRS agents.
Employer Reporting of Health Insurance Costs on a W-2. This will start for W-2s in the 2011 tax year. While not a tax increase in itself, it makes it very easy for Congress to tax employer-provided healthcare benefits later.
All the rates in between will also rise. Itemized deductions and personal exemptions will again phase out, which has the same mathematical effect as higher marginal tax rates. The full list of marginal rate hikes is below:
- The 10% bracket rises to an expanded 15%
- The 25% bracket rises to 28%
- The 28% bracket rises to 31%
- The 33% bracket rises to 36%
- The 35% bracket rises to 39.6%
Higher taxes on marriage and family. The "marriage penalty" (narrower tax brackets for married couples) will return from the first dollar of income. The child tax credit will be cut in half from $1000 to $500 per child. The standard deduction will no longer be doubled for married couples relative to the single level. The dependent care tax credit will be cut.
Mountains Edge is a terrible place to buy and live. Crime is rising, section 8 moving in, welfare recipients taking over. This community is becoming another liberal based program that will continue to decorate into another region like NLV.
You want to build your own place where you wish to be secluded from Liberals, come to Ascaya or McDonald Ranch.
I live in Serrano which is adjacent to the 20 acre parcel that Lennar is planning to build this community on. I am hosting a meeting in my home to discuss this community with Lennar representatives. Anyone that wishes to voice their concerns or to get more information please call for information at 702-685-8288.