Post through the courtesy of Las Vegas Review-Journal:Oct. 29, 2005
Copyright @ Las Vegas Review-Journal
Summerlin has a long way to go
Projects planned for 7,000 acres left in community
By JENNIFER ROBISON
REVIEW-JOURNAL
Tom Warden of The Howard Hughes Corp., which began building Summerlin in 1990, says he believes the market is strong for urban-residential living. "People are really looking for that kind of lifestyle now," he says.
Photo by Ralph Fountain.
Since The Howard Hughes Corp. began developing Summerlin in 1990, the community has been Southern Nevada's most visible master plan. Encompassing 22,500 acres along the Las Vegas Valley's western edge, Summerlin led the nation in annual closings for most of the 1990s and into the 2000s.
And though it lost its sales-leader mantle in 2003 and 2004 -- it's now No. 2, behind The Villages in Florida -- a Summerlin executive delivered a major reminder Friday that the community has years of development ahead of it.
Tom Warden, vice president of community and government relations for The Howard Hughes Corp., told 800 attendees at Marketing Solutions' Crystal Ball housing seminar that Summerlin has 7,000 acres of undeveloped land.
Warden listed a number of pending projects that will absorb some of that property, including a regional outdoor shopping center with more than 1 million square feet and a "megavillage" with 14,000 homes.
"The same precepts that are driving growth everywhere else are driving Summerlin's growth," Warden said. "It's smart growth. Rising land prices dictate that we can build nice floor plans on less land and use fewer water resources as well. We think the market is strong for urban-residential living. People are really looking for that kind of lifestyle now."
Enter Altura, a planned village west of the confluence of Summerlin Parkway and the Las Vegas Beltway. The 2,000-acre community will have 14,000 homes -- compared with a total of about 37,000 homes in the 19 villages already complete in Summerlin.
At its core along the beltway, Altura will have an urban village with commercial and high-density residential uses. As the village unfolds to the west, housing development will center on lower-density, single-family homes.
Construction will begin within two years on the site, which is scheduled for build-out in 2015.
Though Warden classified Altura as an urban village, he said Summerlin's primary "downtown" will remain the 400-acre heart of Summerlin Centre, a 1,300-acre mixed-use village at the Las Vegas Beltway and West Charleston Boulevard.
Some elements of Summerlin Centre are already visible: Homes line the village's eastern edge, and office parks border its northern boundary. And Station Casinos' Red Rock Resort, under construction along the beltway, will open this spring.
Other key components of the center's core are under way or poised to come out of the ground.
Last week, Business Bank of Nevada broke ground on a steel-and-limestone headquarters at Charleston and Pavilion Center. The 150,000-square-foot Class A building is the first project in more than 1 million square feet of planned office development in the area.
Warden also outlined some details of Summerlin Centre's regional shopping center. Preliminary plans for The Shoppes at Summerlin call for more than 1 million square feet of store space, with a pedestrian promenade down the middle. The unenclosed shopping center will have four department-store anchors, though Warden said the company isn't ready to announce tenants.
The shopping center will be Summerlin's "crown jewel," Warden said. The retail expertise of General Growth Properties, which merged with Hughes parent The Rouse Co. in 2004, will benefit the center's design and tenant roster, he added. General Growth owns the Boulevard and Meadows malls as well as Fashion Show on the Strip and The Venetian's Grand Canal Shoppes.
The Shoppes at Summerlin "will match the demographics of the western Las Vegas Valley," Warden said. "Summerlin, Queensridge, the Lakes and Desert Shores have more than 250,000 people, and those areas maintain the absolute best demographics in all of Nevada. The shopping center will be very high end."
Summerlin Centre's core also will have high-density houses. Officials are considering row houses, flats and mid-rise towers, among other variations of residential development, Warden said.
Steve Bottfeld, an analyst with Marketing Solutions, agreed that Summerlin Centre "will end up as the focal point for high-end demographic residents."
"The design is really amazing. It has a wonderful street design with a great 'New Urban' feel," Bottfeld said, referring to a design trend that advocates mixed-use development with homes near commercial uses.
Summerlin Centre West, west of the beltway, is another hot spot for development. Some single-family homes are under construction there, but the village will "lean more toward higher-density urban residential," Warden said, possibly including cluster homes that share back and front yards.
In addition, luxury builder Christopher Homes is building C2 Lofts, priced from the $600,000s, in Summerlin Centre West. The village, which will be dotted with small parks, will have more than 2,100 homes upon completion.
Also west of the beltway, the Vistas village is nearing completion. Its final subdivision, the 324-home Kingwood, will open for sales in coming months. Kingwood's builders include RS Development, Ryland Homes and William Lyon Homes.
The Vistas also soon will be home to Summerlin West's first retail development: Vista Commons, a 100,000-square-foot grocery center that will probably have Albertsons as an anchor.
Warden also revealed plans for Summerlin's southernmost village. The Mesa, near Russell Road and Hualapai Way, will have about 2,400 homes; sales are under way at Ladera, the village's first subdivision. KB Home, Engle Homes and Richmond American Homes are building in Ladera, where prices begin in the mid-$300,000s.
Warden also discussed future development in the Ridges, an exclusive community where vacant home sites have sold for as much as $6.5 million. About half the 400 custom homes planned at the Ridges, near Desert Inn Road and Town Center Drive, have been built; the 61-lot Falcon Ridge is the next custom-home community on the horizon.
Next year, Christopher Homes will begin selling semi-custom homes in the Ridges, and Toll Bros. will begin sales of a high-end townhome neighborhood. When it's complete, the Ridges will have about 1,000 homes.
Bottfeld said the planned development will keep Summerlin executives busy for years to come.
"What Tom's presentation really said to everyone is, 'Hey, folks, Summerlin is far from over,'" he said. "It's still got a long way to go before it's finished as a master plan."
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