Apartment plans near The District draw fire

A plan to build a 438-unit rental apartment complex on about 20 acres of vacant land in an upscale Henderson community has neighbors up in arms and the developer struggling to regain his footing.

The land was initially tapped for high-end condominiums and upscale commercial development, which residents see as more compatible with the neighborhood next to The District at Green Valley Ranch.

Residents are concerned the project would crowd local schools, hurt property values that already have been hammered hard, and be built with an inadequate number of parking spaces that would force the apartments' residents to park on side streets.

But more than that, they say they don't want renters who aren't committed to the neighborhood using their schools, parks and other amenities. They fret over transients and the risk some of them might pose to school-age children.

Attorney Thomas Amick, who represents developer The Calida Group, late last month met with more than 100 angry members of the Green Valley Ranch Homeowners Association to go over plans to build the high-end apartments.

The developer wants a chance to show the residents that the project and the renters it would attract will blend in perfectly with the neighborhood.

THE APARTMENT PROPOSAL

The land, on the northwest corner of Paseo Verde Parkway and Desert Shadow Trail next to the Las Vegas Beltway, had been planned for a pair of six-story nongaming hotels and 360 high-end condominiums, along with restaurants and retail.

The project was designed to fit in with the Green Valley neighborhood, and the shops and restaurants next to Green Valley Ranch Resort, a hotel-casino that has a multiplex movie theater, plenty of slot machines and gaming tables, and restaurants and bars of its own.

The District has such retailers as REI, Anthropologie and Coldwater Creek, and restaurants such as the Elephant Bar, Balboa Pizza and King's Fish House.

Before these plans could become reality, though, the economy tanked, along with the housing market. So developers came up with something new that would be more marketable in today's economy: A $60 million to $80 million development that includes 438 multifamily apartments, 78 more units than what the previous plan called for, but without any restaurants or retail included in the original plan.

The Calida Group still needs a zoning amendment approved to allow for the rental apartments rather than for-sale condos. The Henderson Planning Commission has canceled meetings to discuss the variance while Doug Eisner, a principal for The Calida Group, and his representatives continue to meet with neighbors.

Amick on Friday said there would be no meetings over the approaching busy holiday season and any meetings with neighbors or the planning commission have been postponed until early next year. The Henderson City Council will make the final decision.

Amick said Henderson City Councilman Sam Bateman requested the delay.

The American Nevada Co., a sub­sidiary of the Greenspun Corp., which also owns the Las Vegas Sun and several other media outlets, owns the site. The company developed many of the master-planned communities in Henderson.

Eisner declined to discuss any aspect of his company's purchase of the land except to say it has not been completed.

THE OPPOSITION

"Their fear is about the unknown," said former Assemblywoman Ellen Spiegel about the residents. "There's so much uncertainty, but the one thing nobody wants is a failed project."

Spiegel, who serves on the 4,000-member homeowners association board of directors, is skeptical about the apartment project's potential impact on the community, but hasn't officially opposed it. The board will meet with the developer before announcing a pro or con decision.

But plenty of neighbors do oppose the project, and 115 or so who showed up for an Oct. 27 presentation by Calida have vowed to fight the development.

They told Amick that two adjacent elementary schools, Twitchell and Vander­burg, are already crowded, as is the nearby Bob Miller Middle School.

Spiegel pointed out that the apartment complex, when fully occupied, would increase the number of families living in the neighborhood by about 10 percent.

She said her main concern is the effect the complex might have on local schools. While her children are adults, she said many people with children moved to Green Valley Ranch specifically for the schools, which consistently rank among the top performers in the state.

Opponents also think the 1½ parking spaces allocated to each apartment unit is about one-third too few, and would force apartment residents to park elsewhere.

"It's an incredibly crowded area already," said resident Alan Pesin, one of the project's fiercest critics.

Pesin also said the traffic study the developer had done used a 24-hour cycle to project the number of average daily trips in and out of the complex, making traffic seem lighter than it is during the daytime.

A woman who didn't identify herself at the informal, chaotic meeting said a nearby apartment complex near Horizon Ridge Parkway and Stephanie Street "had to accept Section 8 people because they couldn't fill the apartment complex. I don't want those kind of people in this neighborhood."

"We don't want people who aren't committed to this area," said another woman. "They will be transients we know nothing about, and they will misuse our parks."

Spiegel acknowledged she and most members of the homeowners association would like to see some type of development on the vacant land. The recession has not spared The District any more than it has less affluent areas of the valley, she said, and some nearby businesses are struggling while others in the area have failed.

"There isn't enough foot traffic," she said. "Growth could be a real positive, but the developer has to know we want to be part of the process."

Eisner said that is his intention -- and it is the city of Henderson's mandate.

DEVELOPER'S RESPONSE

Eisner acknowledged Tuesday that his and partner Eric Cohen's plans for the site have been met with strong opposition.

"They were pretty explicit in their comments," he said of the meeting.

Eisner said he understands concerns raised by neighbors, but he believes the controversy will die down once the project is fully explained to them.

"I can very confidently tell you our proposal will do a number of good things," Eisner said. "We will allay their fears."

On the parking concerns, he said off-site parking would be prohibited and that a lot of thought went into the configuration of the parking area.

He also said a lack of parking is a significant factor in renters leaving other complexes. To that end, he said the typical apartment complex in the Las Vegas Valley has about a 70 percent turnover rate while Calida Group projects -- there are several in the valley -- enjoy a retention rate of more than 80 percent. He said people stay because of the amenities and the relationships they build with on-site managers.

He also said the apartments will produce less traffic than the site's original plans.

As far as criticism that the project won't fit with the neighborhood, Eisner said it would blend in with The District's master plan. The architect is Howard Perlman, who also designed The District.

He said concerns that people living in apartments don't make good neighbors are not necessarily true, particularly when the renter's profile his company seeks includes young professionals and not transients.

Rental prices will require a decent income with one-bedroom units going for more than $1,100 a month and three-bedroom units for about $1,700 a month -- more than what many single-family homes in the area rent for.

He said the less desirable neighbor would be one renting a home snatched up in foreclosure by an out-of-state investor.

"We understand they have an issue with people who might not be committed to the community," Eisner said, "but our renters will actually help businesses in The District. They are socially minded people, and they will walk to The District's retail area and spend their money there."

Eisner also said children will live at the complex and they would likely attend one of the nearby schools. "We really can't predict how many people with kids will be among our tenants, and we know they will attend local schools, but we don't believe the impact will stress those schools," Eisner said.

"We don't trust them" Pesin said. "We don't think they're being straight with us about what their plans are."

Pesin and his wife, Bonnie, have concerns that are representative of those expressed by other neighbors. As one unidentified man put it near the end of the heated October meeting, "Why don't we just admit that you guys are going to do what you want to do and we're going to try to stop you?"

Eisner said he doesn't want it to come down to a battle royal . Instead, his firm will do whatever it takes to change perceptions.

"We're re-evaluating our timetable. We want the community to be excited. We really do enhance the communities we invest in."

Contact reporter Doug McMurdo at dmcmurdo@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5512.