REDEVELOPMENT: Rebuilding Flamingo

Neighborhood gets a makeover as several projects are under way

dale dombrowski/viewA white-face ibis searches for food in a pond in the Flamingo wash. dale dombrowski/viewWith the older tennis-themed Wimbledon condominiums in the background, workers continue preparing the roof of the Vegas Grand condominiums, Feb. 26. dale dombrowski/viewA worker paints one of the corner domes at the Vegas Grand condominium project being built over the Flamingo Wash on Flamingo Road near Cambridge Street, Feb. 26. The Vegas Grand project is one of several that are part of redevelopment on the north end of Flamingo between Paradise Road and Maryland Parkway. F. Andrew Taylor/viewRedevelopment projects currently taking place along the north end of Flamingo Road between Paradise Road and Maryland Parkway are shown. F. Andrew Taylor/viewRedevelopment projects currently taking place along the north end of Flamingo Road between Paradise Road and Maryland Parkway are shown. Advertisement

For decades, the area north of Flamingo Road between Paradise Road and Maryland Parkway has been a collection of trash-strewn washes, vacant lots and run-down, low-rent apartments. A number of projects in the works will start to change the look of the area, but how that will affect residents living nearby remains to be seen. It's a part of town that is ripe for change. As one contractor put it, "That area kind of needs it; there's a lot of blight there."

No changes are currently slated directly on Flamingo, which is fronted on the north with a mixture of relatively new and well established retail locations and restaurants. Just behind those businesses, the story is quite different, with four large construction projects under way and the potential for several more.

The largest lot currently under construction is between Swenson and Cambridge streets, a 20-acre lot owned by troubled developer Del American. Currently, a quarter of the property is covered with nearly completed mid-rise condominiums. A series of articles in the Las Vegas Review-Journal by Hubble Smith chronicle the difficulties the property has had. According to the articles, originally, the lot was dominated by the confluence of the Flamingo and Las Vegas washes. Although Del American acquired the land for $5 million, it has spent over $100 million to move the wash underground and prepare the area.

The articles also stated that somewhere along the line, Del American informed customers who already had put down deposits that the price of the condominiums had been significantly raised, and a lawsuit ensued. The result of the lawsuit is that any new funds coming in from the sales of new condos on the property must go to pay off the claimants of the lawsuit. Del American could not be reached for comment about the current status of the project.

Despite the problems, and the fact that the condominiums currently aren't on the market, construction goes on at the property and eventually will lead to the unlikely scenario of luxury condominiums directly abutting aging, low-rent apartments.

Just to the east are two properties of interest -- Flamingo Grand Plaza and Puff, a new hookah lounge and nightclub. The Flamingo Grand Plaza is a well-appointed rental office space, which appears much younger than its 20 years. Both properties are likely to benefit from the revitalization of the area.

Puff, to be located on Cambridge Street, will offer tapas and cocktails, a nightclub featuring live performances, a lounge and specialty hookahs.

"We like the location," said Puff spokeswoman Lynn Garlock-Wright. "Emeril's (Lagasse) test kitchens are right next door; you should smell it."

She also pointed out that the lounge shares a parking lot with Flamingo Grand Plaza, which will provide ample parking during the evening when offices are virtually deserted and Puff will be, if all goes according to plan, hopping.

Between Paradise and Palo Verde roads, three new sites are under construction. Two are being worked on by local developer La Pour. The development of this plot of land included putting the Flamingo Wash underground, as well, but it was a much less complex project, as the single wash already was channeled at that point.

According to La Pour development associate Kari Lauant, a new street, named Tony Bennett Way, will roughly follow the path of the wash. What will be built on the plot north of the new road has not yet been determined. South of the new road, La Pour has plans for a mixed-use development, including Aloft, a 14-story hotel that will be operated by W Hotels Worldwide and is slated to open in July 2009.

Aloft is a new chain of hotels, the first batch of which will open this summer in a dozen states and another three internationally, with about 60 currently planned or under construction worldwide. Laurant is pleased with the sites progress.

"We just finished where the road will be, and the site work is nearly completed," she said. "The pipes, the wires, all that is almost in place, and we're working on the landscaping for the road."

Both Aloft and the new Holiday Inn being built on the adjacent property will, in part, target the convention market. Mark Sandberg, principal designer for the Henderson-based Sandberg Salemme Design Group, explained why.

"It's close to the Strip, but people that will come here won't be coming strictly for the gaming and the entertainment," he said. "They'll probably come for business; they may be staying longer, and the rates will be a little more reasonable off the Strip."

The crossroad of Flamingo and Paradise roads is unique, being approximately a mile from the Strip, the Las Vegas Convention Center and McCarran International Airport. It's also nearly adjacent to UNLV, making it an attractive destination for parents of students or prospective students.

"There's a new attitude toward hotels in Las Vegas, and this isn't the first one we've approached this way," Sandberg said. "The old attitude with hotels was every one has to have a casino and has to be near the Strip."

Sandberg feels that the change was brought on by neighborhood casinos, which brought not only gaming, but hotels. "There's a great need for people who don't want to stay on the Strip for business or family or whatever, they don't want to stay right there, they want to be removed from it," he said. "We're finding that there's quite a market for hotels that don't have casinos in them."

Three prominent lots in the area, owned by holding corporations, seem likely spots for future growth, as well. There are two lots north of the Vegas Grand site. A lot approximately the size of the nearly completed portion of Vegas Grand is owned by Las Vegas-based Omni Family, LLP, and recently has had several buildings demolished, although the slabs still remain.

An approximately 51/2-acre plot of land owned by North Las Vegas' Swenson 72, LLC, had senior housing planned, but there has been no obvious movement on that project in more than a year. A third lot, positioned south and adjacent to Vegas Grand, fronted by Flamingo Road, is owned by the Hamal Financing Corp. of Beverly Hills, Calif.

Life-long neighborhood resident and youth development professional Ebony Saunders said that the neighborhood has gotten better in recent years. "The crime isn't as bad as it was, but now it's stupid crime, stuff that makes no sense," she said. However, Saunders does feel that the new construction will have little or no benefit for current residents.

Clark County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani said she feels that the new construction not only will change the nature of the neighborhood, but complement it.

"We're hoping that there will be more pedestrian traffic," she said. "We need to get people out of their cars so they have more of a connection with the community."

Giunchigliani said she feels that the area already is improving. "We've managed to get in touch with the owners of a lot of the apartments," she said. "New managers have been brought in who are really cleaning up the place."

However, a section of run-down condominiums in the neighborhood is still problematic. "Every one is owned by people out of state," she said. "We have to try to get each one to work with us individually."