New center will help old image

     By Sean DeFrank
     View staff writer
      For a region of the city looking to rebuild its image, perhaps it's only fitting that a hardware store represent Henderson's first redevelopment area project.
      The Coast Shopping Center opened on seven acres at the northeast corner of Lake Mead Drive and Burkholder Boulevard on Nov. 14. The 85,000-square-foot, $10 million project is anchored by a Coast-to-Coast Hardware store and will feature a fast-food restaurant, a dine-in eating establishment and a variety of retail shops on the site.
      Henderson City Councilman Andy Hafen said the shopping center is part of the city's effort to revitalize many of the older parts of Henderson.
      "If you look at the area, this is the first retail in a long, long time," Hafen said. "With this and the other retail that's going to go up in this complex, and with the Lake Mead (Drive beautification) improvements, we're going to try to do the same thing for Lake Mead that we've done for Boulder Highway. It will really rejuvenate this area."
      The shopping center is expected to create about 65 jobs , generate about $65,000 annually in additional tax revenue to the Henderson Redevelopment Agency and will have an estimated economic impact of $3 million per year in related economic activity.
      Coast Shopping Center developer H. Don Gordon has been working with the city for more than two years to bring the project to fruition after city officials persuaded Gordon to relocate his business from its former location at 220 Boulder Highway, where it had existed since 1992.
      Gordon originally was looking for another location in the city to build a new facility for his business, but a $675,000 grant from the city's Redevelopment Agency to help with the center's construction and off-site improvements led Gordon to consider the city's offer to develop the shopping center.
      "We're delighted to be part of the city of Henderson's redevelopment effort," Gordon said. "And we'd like to thank them for the guidance and the help they've given us to make this happen. Obviously, it's a very exciting day."
      Gordon said the new Coast-to-Coast store is about 24,000 square feet, compared to 15,000 square feet at the former location, and will feature expanded specialty plumbing and painting supply areas. Gordon said the remainder of the shopping center's first phase will be filled in the next six to nine months.
      Henderson Community Development Director Mary Kay Peck said the city has not yet determined where or what the next redevelopment project will be, although she anticipated moving swiftly to secure another project. She said the city has been in the process of acquiring land in the downtown area in order to assemble larger parcels to make the area more attractive for potential businesses.
      "I expect it would be something on Water Street," Peck said. "It hasn't been determined yet, but that has been the priority that the redevelopment agency board has set is to work on Water Street. É I hope something within the next year."
      Henderson Chamber of Commerce President Dianna Fyke said she hoped the shopping center would serve as a springboard for future redevelopment projects.
      "We're really getting involved and we're really doing something that is going to be visible now," Fyke said. "It's really here. It's not a dream; it's not a vision."
      The redevelopment area, comprised of about 1,307 acres, was created as part of the city's Comprehensive Plan and adopted by the Henderson City Council in July 1995 in an effort to renovate the oldest portions of the city.