Lake Las Vegas Resort
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Lake Las Vegas Resort Henderson, Nevada Project Type: Resort/Second-Home Community Volume 37 Number 15 July–September 2007 Case Number: C037015 PROJECT TYPE Developed by Transcontinental Properties, Inc., Lake Las Vegas Resort is a resort community located ten miles (16 kilometers) southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada, that is centered around a 320-acre (129.5-hectare) manmade lake. In addition to the lake and other open space, this 3,592-acre (1,454-hectare) project features two luxury hotels; several golf courses; a town center with shops, restaurants, and a casino; and an array of housing types—ranging from single-family homes, townhouses, and condominium units to fractional- ownership flats—that total 8,900 residences. Conscious of its impact on the environment, the community uses lake water to irrigate the golf courses and common-area plantings and encourages the use of nonautomobile transportation. LOCATION Resort Area SITE SIZE 3,592 acres/1,454 hectares LAND USES Resort Hotel, Casino, Golf Course, Single-Family Residential, Multifamily Residential, Townhouses, Lake, Open Space KEYWORDS/SPECIAL FEATURES Hotel-Retail Development Resort/Second-Home Community Lakefront WEB SITE www.lakelasvegas.com PROJECT ADDRESS 1600 Lake Las Vegas Parkway Henderson, Nevada DEVELOPERS/OWNERS Transcontinental Properties, Inc., a subsidiary of Transcontinental Corporation Santa Barbara, California www.lakelasvegas.com/aboutus_history.asp Bass Family Interests Fort Worth, Texas LAND PLANNERS/DESIGNERS Berkus Design Studio Santa Barbara, California 805-963-8901 www.berkusdesignstudio.com Peridian International, Inc. Newport Beach, California 949-675-2445 www.peridian.net David Jensen Associates, Inc. Denver, Colorado 303-369-7369 www.davidjensenassociates.com ENGINEERS RBF Consulting Las Vegas, Nevada 1-800-479-3808 www.rbf.com Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. Las Vegas, Nevada 702-734-5666 www.kimley-horn.com GENERAL DESCRIPTION In a region with many world-class resorts, Lake Las Vegas Resort (LLVR) stands out for its waterfront setting. Located about ten miles (16 kilometers) southeast of Las Vegas in Henderson, Nevada, this destination resort includes a 320-acre (129.5-hectare), privately owned manmade lake at its center that serves as a design focal point as well as a recreational amenity. In addition to the lake, the resort comprises an array of housing types, resort hotels, golf courses, and a town center with shops, restaurants, and a casino. Lake Las Vegas Resort encompasses 3,592 acres (1,454 hectares) of land, much of it preserved as open space. SITE AND BACKGROUND The Clark County area is one of the fastest-growing regions in the United States, with the sixth-largest school district in the country. Henderson has a desert climate, with an average of four inches (10.16 centimeters) of rainfall per year and average daily temperatures ranging from the 50s Fahrenheit (10 to 15.5 degrees Celsius) in winter to over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.7 degrees Celsius) in summer. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) property and the vast Lake Mead Recreational Area surround the development on three sides, with Lake Mead located two miles (3.2 kilometers) to the east. The project occupies a visually dramatic site with the aforementioned lake as the focal point and rugged hillsides and outcroppings serving as a backdrop. Beyond the hills, the views are of desert landscapes, the Las Vegas Strip, and Lake Mead. DEVELOPMENT AND FINANCING In the mid-1980s, Ronald F. Boeddeker, president and chairman of Transcontinental Properties, Inc., was inspired by a trip he took to northern Italy’s Lake Como. He envisioned a lake surrounded by a Mediterranean-style resort that would include homes, golf courses, hotels, gambling, restaurants, and boutiques, a vision that has become reality. In the fall of 1988, construction began on the 150-foot-high (45.7-meter-high) dam that created Lake Las Vegas. By 1991, the dam was completed and development around the lake could start. Custom-home lot sales commenced in 1993, along with the construction of the first golf course, SouthShore Golf Club. The first two hotels, the Hyatt and Ritz-Carlton, opened in 1999 and 2002 respectively. By 2003, development had accelerated, with the opening of MonteLago Village. In late 2006, the Hyatt changed hands and is now owned by Loews Hotels. Hilton Hotels recently purchased a hotel site and plans on breaking ground in 2008. Creating both a sense of place and value was critical to the success of the project. Boeddeker’s vision for the property, however, was in total contrast to the geological nature of the region. While the concept breaks with traditional desert themes, the designers were sensitive to the surroundings. The views created by the rugged ridgelines are considered an essential part of the landscape and were not broken for development. The site was owned by a local rancher until the BLM condemned the land and parceled it into ten-acre (four- hectare) lots. When the developer, Transcontinental Properties, eventually bought the site from the BLM, the parcels had to be reassembled. The first section was purchased from the Bureau of Land Management. The original contract between the BLM and Transcontinental in 1989 set a price of $4 million, but it took 12 years to clear the mining claims. By that time, the developer had gone ahead and created the lake and the first golf course, increasing the appraised value of the land considerably. The BLM required that payment for the land be based on the new appraisal of $62 million. The initial land purchase and infrastructure development were made with cash. Wells Fargo financed an additional $500 million for development. In 2004, a public investor repaid the bank’s investment in full. The first phase has a $75 million bond and the second phase has a $48 million bond. A bond will be issued to close out the third phase of the project. In addition to the cost of the land, there were considerable upfront development costs. Before any lots were sold, infrastructure costs of $90 million had accrued for development of the lake, followed by two golf courses. Also, the hotels needed to be up and running early in the development, before a solid market had been established for them. Therefore, the developer became an investor in the hotels to ensure financial stability in the early development stages. When the project began, development agreements with the city were uncommon, so one does not exist for LLVR. PLANNING, DESIGN, AND CONSTRUCTION The primary design feature is the lake that offers ten miles (16 kilometers) of shoreline along which development is sited. Averaging 150 feet (45.7 meters) in depth, it is the largest privately owned lake in southern Nevada. Located on the south side of the lake is the 550-acre (222.5-hectare) SouthShore development, comprising custom homesites. Four residential areas are located along the north side of the lake next to the Jack Nicklaus–designed Reflection Bay Golf Club. The north side is anchored by the Loews Hotel. On the west side of the lake, the 349- room Ritz-Carlton Hotel is the centerpiece of MonteLago Village, a $500 million Mediterranean-themed town center developed by Intrawest Corp. The original LLVR concept called for 15,000 hotel rooms and 5,000 homes, numbers that would have required high density and high-rise buildings. Eventually, a total of 500,000 square feet (46,452 square meters) of retail space, spread throughout several small villages and commercial nodes, will be developed in the resort. But ultimately, the developer chose lower density, greater exclusivity, and a more resident-oriented community. To achieve this goal, the current plan instead calls for 1,900 hotel rooms and approximately 9,000 residences. Lake Las Vegas Resort includes a wide variety of housing types: custom homes, attached five-unit complexes, condominium units, and fractional-ownership flats. A total of 19 residential communities have been built in Lake Las Vegas Resort as of November 2007, with an expected buildout by 2015. Prices go from the high $300,000s to over $4 million. Custom lots range from $600,000 to $20 million. Demand for property has been strong enough that the developer does not have to finish lots, so raw land is sold to homebuilders. Once the land is sold, LLVR does the grading, engineering, and platting. Numerous local and national homebuilders are operating within the resort—Pardee Homes, Amland Development, Amstar Homes, Centex, Woodside Homes, Toll Brothers, Engle Homes, Innovative Communities, and Storied Places. MonteLago Village, which opened in 2003, is the town center for the development. Sited along the lake, it is designed with an Italian-style ambience: cobblestone streets and piazzas form the setting for luxury boutiques, restaurants, and condominiums, as well as the Ritz-Carlton resort hotel. The Italian theme is carried out in a shop- lined bridge that spans Lake Las Vegas, modeled after the Ponte Vecchio in Florence. The town center was built by Intrawest, a company known for its resort town centers throughout the world. The Ritz-Carlton, the town center’s anchor, is a boutique resort hotel with 349 rooms, a fine-dining restaurant, a luxury spa, and conference facilities. Groups account for about 70 percent of the hotel’s business. Occupancy averages 76 percent and the average room rate is $225. The hotel provides guest transportation to the Las Vegas Strip. One design feature is that the club-level rooms are located on the aforementioned Ponte Vecchio–inspired bridge. The rooms occupy the upper two levels of the bridge buildings, with retail space—currently a wedding chapel and a flower shop—on the ground level. The Ritz-Carlton has won Condé Nast’s Gold Award for resort hotels and is rated five diamonds by the Mobil Travel Guide.