DDA Approved for 330-Unit Residential Project

LAS VEGAS-The city council here this week approved a disposition and development agreement with CityMark Development of San Diego for a 330-unit residential project on a 103,000-sf site in the city’s downtown redevelopment district. The development will cover a full city block at South 3rd Street and East Bonneville Avenue and vary in height from six to 14 stories. Founded in 2000, CityMark is a residential developer focused on high-density urban infill. Company president Rich Gustafson tells GlobeSt.com the 3rd and Bonneville project will be the company’s first outside of San Diego County, where its developments have been recognized by the local Building Industry Association for their architecture and design in each of the past two years. Designed to look like several different buildings constructed over time, 3rd and Bonneville will contain mostly loft and townhouse units ranging in size from 600 sf to 2,500 sf. The project also includes 13 live-work units with street-level storefronts and an additional 10,000 sf of traditional retail space. The condos will be priced in the range of $350 to $400 per sf. Most units will be priced from the high $200,000s to high $600,000s; the penthouse units will be priced in the $1-million range. The development is expected to generate $140 million in sales. “We’re trying to target more of the local people,” says Gustafson, who expects to start advertising for the project in February and then launch pre-sales in March or early April. The land sale is scheduled to close concurrent with the building permits being issued, which is tentatively scheduled for next July, says Gustafson.In explaining the company’s interest in the Las Vegas market, Gustafson cites National Association of Realtors data showing median home prices here are up more than 50% from last year as supply tailgates demand. According to NAR data, there is a 1.7-month supply of homes in Las Vegas, compared to a four-month supply nationwide. Gustafson says the market has cooled a little in the last month, but remains a hot market. The city’s downtown redevelopment district encompasses 3,079 acres, from Las Vegas Boulevard south to Sahara Avenue, and the commercial district corridors along Owens Avenue, Martin Luther King Boulevard and Eastern Avenue. The city’s goal with the district is to “work in concert with community and private sectors to reverse the physical, economic and social decay within designated boundaries,” according to the Las Vegas Office of Business Development.Completed redevelopment projects in the district include the $70-million Fremont Street Experience, a four-block arched “space frame” towering 90 feet above a section of Fremont Street; the Stratosphere Tower, an integrated casino-hotel-entertainment complex at the north end of the Strip; and Neonopolis, a $120-million retail and entertainment venue integrated into the Fremont Street Experience. Other projects include a $90-million federal courthouse and regional justice center, two 60,000-sf office buildings and a 12,000-sf bank expansion.