Real Estate and Development

Village concept spreads through valley

By Jennifer Shubinksi / Staff Writer

The adage "It takes a village" is certainly coming true in Las Vegas.

Not only are there several projects that are trying to invoke a village mentality through a name, there are several projects in the works that are built around the village concept -- high density housing, walkable streets and neighborhood retail.

The idea of creating a village is not new to the Las Vegas Valley.

MonteLago Village at Lake Las Vegas is a good example of a resort village, serving both tourists and locals with its winding streets, unique restaurants, stores and a stock of hotel rooms. And while village isn't in the name, it could be argued that the District at Green Valley Ranch -- with its own palette of restaurants, stores, offices and condos -- is a village on a small scale.

The idea of village development is catching on nationwide as the attitudes toward sprawl have shifted and as people begin to look inward for development opportunities and places to live.

Ken Perlman, vice president of Sullivan Group Real Estate Advisors, said urban villages are the next stage of local real estate.

"That's the next evolution of product in Las Vegas, of higher density product," he said. "There's been a focus on the Strip, downtown and south Strip, which all came into being at the same time.

"Really now we're starting to see the evolution of an urban product in suburban locations."

These so-called urban villages are geared toward a variety of people, such as someone who wants a fresh, different housing option, or someone who wants to live in an urban environment but doesn't want to, or can't afford to, live on the Strip, Perlman said.

"That is the next iteration of high density product, a dense, urban, high density product, four or five stories," he said.

The Urban Land Institute, a nonprofit education and research institution, refers to these urban, mixed-use developments as "place-making" products -- about re-creating a sense of place as it relates to the entire community.

A synopsis of industry leaders' comments at the conference was provided on the group's Web site.

"Today, 74 percent of rural counties are growing at their fastest rate in 20 years," Joel Embry, president of Florida-based Home Town Neighborhoods Inc., said at a recent Urban Land Institute conference on place-making.

That sprawl increases the desire of people to reconnect to real places, he said.

Place-making and the success of those developments differ from market to market, but ULI members said there are a number of necessary elements.

• A comprehensive master plan that evolves over time.

• A mixed-use environment that includes shops, restaurants, movie theaters, offices, hotels, residential, government and public spaces.

• A plan and design that are sensitive to the geographical location.

• A pedestrian-friendly environment.

• A variety of public meeting places.

• A focus on nighttime as well as daytime activities.

• An emphasis on architectural details -- make buildings look like what they are.

• Public gatherings and traditions.

• A requirement for tax incremental financing of public improvements.

The goal, said those at the ULI conference, is to create places people will come to on a regular basis.

In Las Vegas, there are probably a dozen village concepts in some stage of development.

Some of the best-known ones include the Village at Centennial Springs in the north Las Vegas Valley, the Curve in the southwest, Urban Village along Las Vegas Boulevard South near the Strip, and East Village on Tropicana Avenue east of the Strip.

One of the "village" projects that has probably been in planning longer than any of the aforementioned projects is Howard Hughes Corp.'s 400-acre Summerlin Centre, anchored by the under-construction Red Rock Resort.

Summerlin Centre has been described by Hughes executives' as an urban village that will include a mix of housing, retail and an estimated 1 million square feet of office space.

Ultimately only time will tell which of these villages, along with others not mentioned, will succeed in creating a place where Las Vegans will want to gather, shop and live.

Jennifer Shubinski covers real estate and development for In Business Las Vegas and its sister publication, the Las Vegas Sun. She can be reached at (702) 259-8832 or by e-mail at js@lasvegassun.com.

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