Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Recession’s effect on one Henderson intersection

Cornerstone Park

Las Vegas Sun File

This 30-acre lake on the site of an old rock quarry will be the focal point of Cornerstone Park in Henderson. The lake is the centerpiece of the project, but it won’t be open for paddle boating or fishing like some residents had hoped.

Cornerstone Park

Three years ago — in the waning days of Las Vegas’ building boom — developers envisioned high-rise condominiums and mixed-use retail at Stephanie Street and Wigwam Parkway, just off Interstate 215 in Henderson.

What a difference a recession makes.

At the southeast corner, the site of a failed $200 million, 466-unit condominium complex originally called 17th and Vine, excavators and dirt movers are preparing a 90,000-square-foot WinCo Foods grocery store. It is scheduled to open in the spring.

Eventually, residents will be able to pick up some chips, drinks and sandwiches and head across the street to picnic lakeside at Cornerstone Park, a 100-acre park that’s been planned since 2005. Construction of the $16.4 million park, which will surround a 30-acre lake, is scheduled to begin next week.

The lake is in a gravel pit and is unsafe for fishing or swimming, so the park will be focused on “passive recreation” such as bird watching, picnicking or hiking, Henderson officials say. Money for the park comes from the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act. The grant awarded to Henderson expires at the end 2012, forcing the city to start the project or risk losing the money.

The park site is the same where a developer had previously hoped to build a $900 million office, retail and condominium project dubbed Park Heights.

The development would have featured a 30-story building, the tallest in Henderson, but it failed to gain traction and was abandoned as the recession set in.

At the site of the grocery store, construction had started on the condo complex, which by then had changed its name to Stephanie Village. The first building was finished in 2008 — only to be demolished this year to make way for the corner’s new tenants.

WinCo Foods will be the first expansion of the Idaho-based chain into Southern Nevada and will provide residents another option in an area with few grocery stores.

Scheduled to open in March or April, the employee-owned chain will sell fresh produce, meats and fish, baked goods and bulk foods at discount prices, company spokesman Michael Read said.

Read described WinCo as competing with traditional stores in size and brands carried, but with a focus on being the “low-price leader” in whatever market they’re in.

The Henderson WinCo will be followed shortly by the opening of another location at Las Vegas Beltway and Decatur Boulevard. Read said each store will hire about 200 mostly local employees.

Other development at the Stephanie and Wigwam intersection is limited, with no major projects in the works, according to Henderson city planners.

Three retail pads are on the market at the WinCo site, real estate broker Joe Cooley said.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy