Ground broken for Paxton Walk mixed-use project

Las Vegas has seen its share of dog-and-pony shows where developers roll out elaborate plans and architectural renderings for so-called "urban village" projects that they say will change the way people live and work.

So far, the concept has been more hype than reality. The Village at Centennial Hills, Urban Village, The Curve and Las Ramblas are a few of the projects that were announced but never built.

Blue Marble Development principal, Avi Ruimi, though, plans to succeed.

"I don't see any dogs here or any ponies here," Ruimi said Thursday at the groundbreaking for Paxton Walk, a $200 million mixed-use development of condominiums, townhomes, restaurants and storefronts planned for northwest Las Vegas. "I am not reacting to certain conditions in the marketplace. We make decisions fast and we're not leveraged."

Ruimi said he is confident he'll complete the first phase of 65 townhomes, 175 condos and 9,000-square-foot clubhouse with a theater, billiards room and cabana room on the 31-acre site at Centennial Parkway and Tenaya Way by March.

Upon completion, Paxton Walk will have nearly 2 million square feet of residential and commercial space, including 782 condominiums priced from the $200,000s.

Target demographics are young professionals and newlyweds on one end of the spectrum and early retirees and empty nesters on the other end, Blue Marble President Deirdre Waitt said.

John Restrepo of Restrepo Consulting Group said the developers are spending a lot of money on marketing. Prices were part of the problem with previous urban village projects, he said.

"It's a combination of the cost of the land and the cost of construction that causes per-unit prices to be pretty high," Restrepo said. "Match that with household income here and there's a disconnect."

Ruimi said he's already invested $50 million in soft costs for Paxton Walk, including $18 million to $20 million for land acquisition. He spent 12 years assembling the land from nine different owners.

"I saw this land and looked at the (Interstate 215) freeway and on-ramps and I decided if (Las) Vegas has a future, we're standing on the future," Ruimi said. "We searched not only the United States, but we searched the world and we decided mixed use is the future."

Blue Marble is a subsidiary of The Financial Group, an Israeli group that has developed three small commercial centers in Las Vegas.

Brandon Fishman, chief executive of San Diego-based New Condos Online, said he sold a unit at Paxton Walk within the first week of advertising it.

"The important thing about Paxton Walk is they're offering an urban community lifestyle that Las Vegas hasn't seen before at an affordable price," he said. "For $200,000 to $500,000, that's a much more affordable price point, especially for young people starting a family. They like to have that urban environment."

More than 80 percent of Paxton Walk's parking will be hidden from view and 20 percent of the land will be open space to promote outdoor activities such as biking and walking, Waitt said.

"We're very excited about that because you go to a lot of condos and all you see is a sea of cars," she said.

Other urban villages planned for Las Vegas Valley include Echelon at Centennial Hills in the northwest; Sullivan Square, Promenada at Rainbow and Manhattan West in the southwest; and Stephanie Village at Green Valley in the southeast.