Governor unveils $500 million housing initiative in Las Vegas

By Jessica Hill

Friday, April 15, 2022 | 2 a.m.

Near the southwest edge of Las Vegas on South Fort Apache Road, construction crews widen the roads to accommodate more traffic. A newly built neighborhood stands across the street from the latest — and part of many more — developments to come.

But the new build won’t be priced as high as other complexes in Las Vegas, where rents have increased by about 25% in the past year.

The senior-living apartment complex, which will be called Capriccio by Ovation, will provide 195 housing units for seniors at 40% below the market rate, with rent at about $800 per month when it is complete in 2023.

Gov. Steve Sisolak on Thursday at the construction site detailed his “Home Means Nevada” initiative, which his office says is the state’s largest investment in housing. The initiative will include $500 million from American Rescue Plan funds, as well as additional funding from state and local investments to build affordable housing. Nevada lawmakers approved the first $250 million last week.

“This is the beginning,” Sisolak said. “This is such an enormous problem. You can’t solve it in a day or week (or) in a year. But we’re making huge inroads and we’re going to continue along that path.”

About half of the funds for the initiative will come from American Rescue Plan, and $300.7 million of Nevada’s 2020 tax-exempt bonding authority has also been set aside. The goal of the initiative is to lower the cost of housing, help people stay in their homes and invest in construction jobs, Sisolak said.

The program will create up to 1,700 affordable housing units across the state and help about 7,000 seniors with accessibility and home repairs so they can stay in their homes.

Of the $500 million, $300 million will go toward affordable housing multifamily developments, $130 million toward preserving affordable housing, $30 million will increase homeownership opportunities and $40 million is earmarked for land acquisition for future affordable developments, Sisolak had said during his State of the State Address.

“The state is ready to begin accepting pre-applications for new projects,” Sisolak said. “If you’re a developer, and you’ve got a shovel-ready project, we want you to partner with us and help us transform these dollars into housing units like the ones you see constructed behind us. If you have local projects in the works, let us partner with you to get them over the finish line quickly.”

He encouraged developers to go to nevadarecovers.com to submit project applications.

Housing, both its availability and its affordability, has been a well-known problem for years but was exacerbated by the pandemic. In the past decade, more than 400,000 people have moved to Nevada, Sisolak said, and in that same period the cost of a home doubled to over $450,000.

The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Las Vegas is $1,250, a 26% increase compared with last year, according to Zumper, a rental platform.

“We do have a problem with accessibility to affordable housing,” said Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., “but we also are doing more about it.”

“The great thing about Nevada is, first of all, people want to move here, which is what’s driving a lot of our costs up in cost of housing,” said Rep. Susie Lee, D-Nev., “but also that we’re adaptable, that we can see a problem, we can pull the key people together and solve the problem.”

But creating new housing is just one aspect of a solution. The other is to help renters in already-existing housing where their rent is going up. When asked if Sisolak is considering rent controls, he said “everything is on the table when it comes to housing.”

Adrianne Todman, deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, said cities must build, but must also preserve and take care of the units they have.

“We are at a critical time in our nation,” Todman said. “And these investments matter. It matters to us here now. It matters to our kids, and it matters to their children.”