Friday, July 09, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

'New Urbanism' unveiled for Henderson property

Plan would allow high density for 1,940 acres that cost $557 million

Residents will be able to walk their children to school or stroll to the store for groceries under preliminary plans for a 1,940-acre parcel in Henderson that sold at auction last month for $557 million.

Using a relatively new design concept known as "New Urbanism," Focus Property Group is partnering with seven builders to create a high-density, pedestrian-friendly, master-planned community modeled after towns and neighborhoods built before urban sprawl took root across the post-war United States.

The as-yet-unnamed development will be the first in the Las Vegas Valley to employ New Urbanism, said John Ritter, chief operating officer for Focus. The streets will be narrow, and the neighborhoods will consist of blocks of homes of various sizes mixed in with the occasional small business.

"New Urbanism is really about going back to the way we used to do things," said Calvin Champlin, Focus's director of planning. "It's old-town planning."

It also is a way for Focus to increase density and maximize the return on an enormous investment.

The company bought the land between Anthem and Interstate 15 for about $287,113 an acre at a June 2 Bureau of Land Management auction. That is $307 million higher than the parcel's minimum appraised value, which developers balked at during the previous BLM auction in November.

Members of the Henderson City Council and Planning Commission got their first look at the preliminary designs for the development during a presentation Thursday by Focus and its design partner, Miami-based Duany Plater-Zyberk & Co.

"This concept is eminently marketable," DPZ founding partner Andres Duany said. "It's no longer an experiment."

The presentation was part of a process known in planning circles as a charrette, which amounts to an intensive, collaborative design workshop that includes local community views and professional opinions. Over seven days, representatives from city departments will sit down with Focus and DPZ to outline "their needs, their concerns and their desires," said City Attorney Shauna Hughes.

City Councilwoman Amanda Cyphers said she is excited by what looks to be a unique and environmentally friendly design scheme, but she wants to see just how dense a development is proposed.

"How many units are we talking?" Cyphers said. "When (Duany) says we need to have enough people to form a town center, well, how many people is that?"

Focus officials expect to be able to answer such questions when the charrette process wraps up next week.

Generally speaking, Champlin said, the New Urbanism design concept squeezes two to four more residential units on each acre than the typical new development in Henderson, but that may not be the case with the Focus property. "That's a real broad-brush number," he said.

"You can't force people to live densely," Duany said. "This is America. People have choices. They have to love to live densely."

One way to accomplish that, he said, is to make it so residents don't have to leave their neighborhood to conduct their daily business.

"The idea that just to survive you need a car is questionable," Duany said. "We're not smart-growthers who say it's bad to drive SUVs. We're not environmentalists. But there is a smart market out there for people who don't want to drive around for everything."

The developer and its design team are scheduled to deliver a detailed report on the concept to City Council members and planning commissioners at 6 p.m. Wednesday.