|
COVER STORY, FEBRUARY 2008
STIR IT UP
Developers are mixing uses to boost interest, integration and interaction in Las Vegas.
Amy Bigley
In a high-speed market dominated by hospitality, office and retail product, development companies are throwing their chips into mixed-use developments. GSG Development, Pacific Concepts and Plise Cos. are taking no gamble in developing upscale, urban, multi-use communities in the Las Vegas area.
Sullivan Square
 |
The $800 million Sullivan Square in Las Vegas.
|
|
In southwest Las Vegas, GSG Development is developing Sullivan Square, an $800 million urban mixed-use project that is designed to offer a village lifestyle concept to the Las Vegas market.
Las Vegas-based GSG Development, along with co-developer Dublin, Ireland-based Harcourt Developments, broke ground on the project in July 2007. Situated at the intersection of Sunset and Durango, the development will feature 1.78 million square feet of residential space, 250,000 square feet of office space, up to 70,000 square feet of retail space and 65,340 square feet of park space.
The idea of Sullivan Square arose from Founder/Managing Partner Kenneth Smith’s personal experience when relocating to the area. “I looked at several beautiful homes, however I did not want to be in a situation where I go home to a sprawling suburban subdivision and enter through a gate, then close the garage door and block myself from the outside world,” Smith says.
Smith explains that Sullivan Square will offer a human connectivity complemented with a wide variety of home styles for varied residents looking for a convenient lifestyle that is not in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the Las Vegas Strip.
GSG is filling Sullivan Square’s market street with approximately 25 locally-owned shops and services such as a full-service deli, a neighborhood pub, a fine restaurant, a florist, a fresh fish monger, a wine shop, a coffee shop and a bakery. The residential component will feature a wide range of housing options, including modern high-rise condominium towers, three-story street-front brownstones, Chicago-style lofts, luxury terrace condominiums, townhomes and live/work spaces.
The mix of retail services and stores is key to creating the village lifestyle of Sullivan Square. “From picking up dinner at the full-service deli on the way home to cough medicine in the middle of the night, the community should be designed to serve its residents, not the other way around,” Smith remarks. “Genuine mixed-use projects also draw people back to the village lifestyle, where you will get to know your neighbors personally and see them every day at the market, drugstore, or even the dog park.”
Designed by Toronto, Canada-based Kirkor Architects & Planners, the development is seeking LEED Silver Certification, which will translate into potential utility savings of approximately 25 to 30 percent for residents, as well as a 25 to 35 percent decrease in property taxes for up to 10 years.
Although GSG Development typically focuses on commercial developments, the company jumped at the chance to develop Sullivan Square when it acquired an ideal land parcel for a mixed-use community. Completion of the first phase, with residential move-in, is slated for late 2009; completion of the entire project is scheduled for 2014.
Exchange 215
 |
Pacific Concepts' $53 million Exchange 215 in Las Vegas.
|
|
Henderson, Nevada-based Pacific Concepts is also throwing chips into the Las Vegas market with the development of Exchange 215, a $53 million mixed-use project in Las Vegas.
Located along the Las Vegas Beltway mid-way between Summerlin and Henderson, Exchange 215 will offer a variety of retail, office, restaurant and entertainment options to its residents and surrounding population.
“In an area dominated by office buildings and strip malls, Pacific Concepts chose to deviate from the norm and create a mid-rise development that married professional and retail business into one setting, creating a project whose total value is worth more than the sum of its parts,” says Jaimee Yoshizawa, president of Pacific Concepts.
With construction commencing last month and completion slated for February 2008, the first phase of the project will offer 68,000 square feet of office, retail and restaurant space. The second phase will offer an additional 100,000 square feet of commercial space.
Pacific Concepts is banking on Exchange 215’s innovative design to separate itself from the many other mixed-use developments that are beginning to dot the Las Vegas landscape. The project will feature office, retail and restaurant space with floor-to-ceiling windows and private balconies with views of the Las Vegas Strip and Red Rock mountains nestled into a pedestrian-friendly atmosphere complete with outdoor patios and cobblestone pathways lined with gas lamps.
As available land diminishes and property values skyrocket in the Las Vegas market, Pacific Concepts has revamped its development approach. In order to create a successful project, the retail-focused company chose to implement the mixed-use concept to attract a larger audience, and to build vertically to maximize available land.
“Rather than a development where visitors finish their errands and go home, the synergy of Exchange 215 encourages them to drop off their dry cleaning, get their hair cut, squeeze in a round at the gym, shop at a boutique and unwind on the patio with a glass of wine,” says Yoshizawa.
City Crossing
Developed by Las Vegas-based Plise Development & Construction, City Crossing will feature a vast array of office space, boutique shops, restaurants and entertainment venues, two boutique hotels, and 2,500 residential units. With the first two phases scheduled for completion by third quarter 2009, the $2 billion, 126-acre project is slated to become a new destination and upscale residential community for the Las Vegas Valley.
For more information about City Crossing, please refer to the "In City Innovator" article below.
In City Innovator
Local Las Vegas know-how and a varied skill set open many doors for Plise Cos. in Southern Nevada.
Strategic commercial development, expert market knowledge and financial prowess have amounted to a very successful business formula in Southern Nevada for local developer Plise. 2008 will bring more of the same to the Las Vegas leader.
“What benefits us the most is the strength of the local economy,” says Jon Field, Plise’s vice president of legal affairs. “Then we strategically select properties that are easily accessible in the fastest growing areas of the valley.”
Plise’s biggest project in its nearly 14 years of operation, City Crossing, an upscale, urban lifestyle center in Henderson, Nevada, will feature 1 million square feet of Class A office space, 1 million square feet of boutique retail and restaurant offerings, and 2,500 luxury residential units. The first two phases of the 126-acre development are slated for completion in third quarter 2009.
“The many master-planned communities immediately adjacent to the City Crossing project site are completely underserved,” says Field. “It is huge. There are very few developers nationally that can come into our marketplace and develop such a project. We have the local know-how, we have strong relationships with the various jurisdictions and we’re also well financed.”
Elsewhere in the market, Plise recently completed the second four-story office tower at Rainbow Sunset Pavilion, a 25-acre, 547,000-square-foot commercial center located at Interstate 215 and Rainbow Boulevard. Currently under construction, the third and final tower will offer eight stories and 215,000 square feet of Class A space when completed in fourth quarter 2008. The mixed-use property also features 90,000 square feet of accessory retail, which includes a Starbucks Coffee, spa and fitness facilities, various restaurants, and boutiques.
In the northwest part of the valley, Plise is putting the finishing touches on Centennial Corporate Center, a five-story, 144,000-square-foot Class A office-based property with 12,000 square feet of service-oriented retail and a 6,000-square-foot bank pad.
“Fortunately, we’re not as dependent on the residential market as other developers are,” says Field. “For the past 2.5 years, you’ve had the homebuilders gobbling up all the developable land. What happened with the residential slowdown, a lot of the developers walked away thereby putting that land back on the market. We’re still pushing forward on the office side.”
— Brian A. Lee |
©2008 France Publications, Inc. Duplication
or reproduction of this article not permitted without authorization
from France Publications, Inc. For information on reprints
of this article contact Barbara
Sherer at (630) 554-6054.
|
