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By Dave Toplikar (contact) 
Published Wednesday, April 18, 2012 | noon
Updated Wednesday, April 18, 2012 | 12:19 p.m.
Proposed housing project
Bob Coffin
A blighted shopping center in central Las Vegas will get new life with a 196-unit affordable housing project for low-income and older residents, thanks to action taken Wednesday by the Las Vegas City Council.
The three-phased project, which is being pushed by two former city councilmen, Michael McDonald and Frank Hawkins, is expected to get under way by September at 1501 N. Decatur Boulevard on vacant land on Laurelhurst and West Moreland drives. Hawkins estimated the entire project, which could take about three years to build, would cost about $33 million.
Despite a staff recommendation to deny $3.9 million in redevelopment funds for the project, the council, meeting as the city’s Redevelopment Agency, voted 6-1 to approve funds for the first phase of construction on the project, expected to cost $11.2 million. The developers will pay $1 per year for 75 years to lease the land, which belongs to the city.
The council mirrored its support for the matter when the matter came up about an hour later at its regular council meeting.
The only no vote was Councilman Bob Coffin, who said he had not had the time to thoroughly look at the project and its implications. He said the cost per unit appeared too high and said that perhaps the city should have bid out the project.
"My gut tells me we're spending too much," Coffin said.
The main objection to the project by the city’s staff was that McDonald, who sat on the council from 1995 to 2003, didn’t have sufficient experience as a developer and that the cost per unit to the city for the first 40 units would amount to $97,975, according to Bill Arent, the city’s director of economic and urban development.
Arent also said the better use for the property would be commercial, rather than residential, because it was a former shopping center. He also said there was no budget provided for future phases of the project.
However, McDonald, the developer, said he had brought on Hawkins as a consultant. Hawkins, who served on the council from 1991 to 1995, said he has been involved in several affordable housing projects, involving about 1,400 units.
Hawkins went over the proposed project and explained that the calculation Arent used to say what the cost would be per unit didn’t take into consideration that the entire project would be for affordable housing. And once all three phases were built, the cost per unit of the 165 units would be closer to $14,000, Hawkins said.
Several council members expressed interest in moving forward with the project to improve the neighborhood.
“Nothing is going to happen unless it comes from us,” said Councilman Steve Ross. “I don’t see a lot of people knocking down doors to build something there.”
Councilman Ricki Barlow said the project dates back to 2005 and needed to move forward. Barlow pointed out that the city has used development funds to make improvements in the downtown and also needed to spend redevelopment funds in blighted neighborhoods.
Phase 1 of the project would feature 60 units in 10 six-plex buildings and a clubhouse and would be completed in about a year, Hawkins said.
The second phase would feature a four-story building containing 72 senior units and a clubhouse and would begin about a year from now, he said.
The final phase would be 64 senior units in a four-story complex and would begin the following year, he said..
Besides the $3.9 million in grant funds, the project was expected to get $7.1 million in state housing tax credits.
There is plenty of unoccupied housing around the city that is affordable. Why are we spending tax dollars to build more?
What is in the deal for Mike McDonald and Frank Hawkins? It sounds like Frank knows how to make the numbers work.
Steve Ross. "I don't see a lot of people knocking down doors to build something there."
Why should they when the City and County hand-out new building permits like candy? If not for this public funding scheme the lot would remain what it is, a weed field.
What needs to happen is there needs to be a county wide building moratorium. The only development allowed is to existing development say for 10 yrs. End the issuance of all permits which will be used to develop undeveloped land. Land which is not worth sand now but would gain in value as existing areas are redeveloped and new develop slowly phased in.
Simple there is the solution for free get busy.
I'm a SMALL time investor and I've been buying townhouses in my nice clean complex and renting them out to lower income people. I've paid as high as 73K and as low as 37K. So to read that these people are going to pay that much to build new housing tells me that corruption is alive and well. Why don't they buy up units like I do and rent them out cheaply like I do if they feel they mus do this at all. Is there a housing shortage? Good Grief
"Nothing is going to happen unless it comes from us," said Councilman Steve Ross.
And why isn't he asking why is that????
Only nine days ago Fitch "revised its outlook for future ratings to negative from stable" for the city. (Quote from the LVSun article.) Did the City Council sleep through that report? Figure out how to control the cost of police services, folks, because their jobs are much more important to the city than is your meddling in a real estate project.
This sounds ill-conceived to put it mildly. Not only does the cost sound high, but putting seniors in a 4-story building doesn't sound great. Yes, I'm sure they will have elevators, but what about ease of access for emergency services?
As for the numbers, what am I missing? $33M/196units is about $168k/unit.
Your right boftx. $168K would buy a really nice home right about now. But oh I forgot, if you don't have pristine credit, with a fico score of over 750 and about $100K to put down the banks won't finance you.
This whole thing stinks to high heaven. At first Bill Bayne (McDonald's HS FB coach) buys the 9.98 acres from the City for $1.3M, flips 3.92 acres to Mariana's for $3.1M on the same day and would now like a handout for more cash. I'd like Mr. Ross to explain why???
http://sandgate.co.clark.nv.us/assrrealp...
There is an Empty Turnberry Condo Tower across from The Old Hilton that could be purchased and turned into Senior Housing. Build a Rec Center, Smiths Grocer, etc.. in the Neighborhood and that area will come back to life.
Why would you want to use Seniors to Revive a Blighted unsafe Neighborhood?
Even City Center has Condos for 300K, this just looks like Poor Planning! Again!
Isn't the whole town an "affordable housing project?" Who needs new construction when there are so many foreclosed properties that the city could have bought for the $12 million tax dollars they just blew as a political payback. Steve Miller, former LV City Councilman
If you want low cost housing just sell the empty houses we allready have.
We do not need addtional empty houses.
Can the city council be sued for stupidity? Never heard about any public discussion on this either. Last time McDonald got involved with a government body didn't a bunch of them go to prison? I too agree there are well over a thousand single family homes and condos all over this city that the city could scoop up at very low prices, or fund a private investor to do the same with a guarantee to refurbish them and rent them out as low cost rentals for a certain number of years, and then return to fair market value for rents and sales. As for the blighted shopping center area, find someone willing to refurbish that as a shopping center and then low cost rent the store spaces out to some of the needy small businesses that are struggling to stay afloat, for one or 2 years till they can get established. Might even be a good place to move some of the businesses that were shattered by the NV Energy transformer explosion. No more blight, and people and businesses get helped out of the recession, and no new construction or demolition required! Not to mention that the low cost housing would be spread out over a wide area of the city, making it more convenient for the people who will have to live there, as they will be able to select places that are closer to their jobs or doctors, and it looks a lot less like the city is trying to sequester a large group of low income people all in one place.
This is what "big" government gets us: cronyism, favoritism, back-scratching and corruption. I wouldn't trust either of the two guys involved in this "development" as far as I can throw the new city hall. As for "affordable" housing? Anyone noticed how many of these projects failed over the past 50 or so years, became gang havens, drug infested and had to be demolished? There's a ton of money to be made by the unscrupulous when building them, abandoning them, and then doing it all over again with taxpayers and the poor & elderly as the only losers. And some wonder why so many of us are cynical when it comes to politicians, bureaucrats and "big" government.
The City's director of economic and urban development opposed this development. When have you heard of the City's cheerleaders opposing a project? That speaks volumes about the cronyism.
I think it time to review procedures to remove City Council memebers for their incompetant, self serving cronyism. They are, as a whole, a totally worthless lot that works for themselves and their 'friends.'
Fraud, waste & abuse. There is ample housing stock available and will be for sometime. If the city really wants to provide assistance, all they'd have to do is pick up the rent bill. Building another "project" is simply feathering some contractors nest -- who'll then contribute to his buddies on the commission.
That's funny,every 'affordable housing projetc' where I live is a dump.