Affordable housing project lands $61M from bank
Construction is underway on an affordable-housing complex in North Las Vegas, a project backed by more than $60 million in financing from a big lender.
Western Alliance Bank recently announced that it provided key financing for the Senator Joseph M. Neal Jr. Apartments complex. The four-story, 192-unit project at the corner of Tonopah Avenue and North Fifth Street broke ground this summer.
The Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority, which owns the site and will operate the complex, contracted with affordable-housing firm McCormack Baron Salazar to develop the project.
Western Alliance purchased $43.8 million in construction bonds from the Nevada Housing Division, meaning the bank is effectively lending that sum for the project, said Philipp Smaczny, managing director of affordable housing finance for the Phoenix-based lender.
He also confirmed that the bank invested an additional $17.2 million toward the project in exchange for tax benefits such as credits and deductions.
Overall, he said the bank’s total “exposure” is around $61 million.
The bank has about $86.6 billion in assets and $71.4 billion in deposits, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
With the bulk of its population in the Las Vegas area, Nevada has long needed an increased supply of affordable housing.
The state has a shortage of nearly 78,000 affordable and available rental homes for extremely low-income tenants, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
In North Las Vegas, the Housing Authority’s under-construction complex is named for Nevada’s first Black state senator, who died in 2020 at age 85.
The property will have one- and two-bedroom units and a leasing preference for low-income seniors, as well as classrooms, a fitness center, a multi-purpose room and other amenities.
A spokesperson for the Housing Authority said this summer that the $88 million project is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2026.
Contact Eli Segall at esegall@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342.
