Henderson gives OK to sell land for Union Village

The Henderson City Council approved in a 5-0 vote a land purchase agreement with the developers of Union Village for 150.72 net acres for $11.6 million at the June 14 council meeting.

"This was an important step that allows us to move forward," said David Baker, a California developer and partner with Union Village.

The concept of Union Village, a state-of-the-art health care district that will include cultural, educational, retail and residential amenities, was unveiled in April.

The project is slated to be built on the northeast corner of U.S. Highway 95 and Galleria Drive and is projected to be completed in three phases in about five years.

"We can now look at engineer studies and do a greater depth of planning now that we know we have the rights to buy the property," Baker said.

Baker said Union Village officials now have to wait for the city to lay fill dirt in the area.

According to Kathleen Richards, a senior public information specialist with the city, Henderson is making plans to fill in 610,000 cubic yards of dirt.

"It is equivalent to 187 Olympic-sized swimming pools," Richards said.

Filling the area is part of the purchase agreement, which took the price from $29.5 million if the site had been in perfect condition. It was estimated to cost about $17 million for the dirt project.

Richards said a contractor is prepping the site and is scheduled to begin transporting the dirt in two or three weeks.

"We have a lot of work ahead of us," Richards said.

The city already has the dirt stockpiled near Ithaca Avenue and Magic Way.

Baker said that after the dirt is filled into the area, the project could begin as early as mid-December and as late as mid-April 2012.

"We are excited about this step," Baker said, "and we are ready to go on to the next step."

Contact Henderson and Anthem View reporter Michael Lyle at mlyle@viewnews.com or 387-5201.