Click image for enlargement. Graphic by Mike Johnson.

For decades, the giant industrial complex that gave birth to Henderson has been sealed away on an island of unincorporated Clark County, just outside the city limits.

But that is changing, as Henderson annexes property around the Basic Management site and clears the way for commercial and residential development.

The latest move in that transformation came Tuesday, as the City Council took the first step toward annexation of 1,362 acres northeast of Boulder Highway and Lake Mead Parkway.

A part of the property housed wastewater ponds used by the chemical plants nearby. Now it is part of 2,200 acres that LandWell Company, a division of Basic Management, hopes to see turned into a master-planned community.

John Rinaldi, property management and redevelopment manager for the city, said the proposed annexation, which was requested by LandWell, takes in all of the unincorporated county land around the industrial site except the swath of property that houses the chemical plants.

"We don't have any designs on (annexing the plants) at this time," Rinaldi said. "Whether or not that will ever happen, I don't know."

The plant site and the town that would grow up around it were established in the early 1940s to supply magnesium for munitions and airplane parts used in World War II.

If the proposed annexation gains final approval from the council Jan. 3, it will mark the largest addition to the Henderson city limits since August 2000.

Also Tuesday, council members gave initial approval to plans to add the southeast corner of the Basic Management complex to the city's downtown redevelopment area and create a new redevelopment area anchored by the LandWell development.

Mark Paris, president and CEO of Basic Management, said his company is glad to be a part of the proposed Eastside Redevelopment Area, but he said much needed to be done before any homes are built on the land.

"We're being very methodical to make sure what we do there is done right," Paris said. "It's not a project that should be rushed."

Designation as a redevelopment area could make the project eligible for tax breaks, help with infrastructure improvements and other incentives from the city.

In November 2004, LandWell agreed to sell its 2,200 acres to Centex Homes for an undisclosed amount.

The Dallas-based home builder hopes to start work on a master-planned community at the site after LandWell completes a cleanup and monitoring program.

In size and scope, the cleanup is one of the largest contaminated land reclamation projects under way in the United States.

Paris said more than $50 million has been invested in the effort, and tens of millions more will be spent before the site is cleared for development.

The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection is overseeing the work to ensure compliance with federal and state standards.

Concerns of another sort have complicated efforts to develop the area, now known as Timet Park, at the industrial complex's southeast corner. The city recently annexed 73 acres and is seeking to add that land to the downtown redevelopment area.

Wal-Mart reportedly expressed interest in building a supercenter on the property, but emergency officials questioned whether a large retail center so close to the chemical plants could be evacuated in an accident.

Henderson Redevelopment Manager Robert Ryan said he thought that Wal-Mart officials had withdrawn their plans.

"They've pretty much decided not to bring the project forward. I don't know that for sure, but that's what I've heard," Ryan said.

Wal-Mart officials could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Paris said LandWell hopes to turn Timet Park into an office or retail development "with or without Wal-Mart."

Ryan said the 73 acres seems best-suited for "warehousing or light industrial use." He said adding it to the downtown redevelopment area, perhaps as soon as early February, could help make that happen.

As for Eastside, Ryan said the city's newest and largest redevelopment area could be in place by spring.