LAS VEGAS, NV - Today's hemorrhaging real estate market is forcing developers to think creatively and take new chances to succeed. Rising commercial real estate vacancies, high unemployment, home foreclosures and financial market turmoil make for a bleak outlook. But with crisis comes opportunity, at least, for those companies willing to try something different.
Consider Nevada West Development, which put a unique twist on a mixed-use project combining apartments and retail shops. Although there has been talk about new urbanism and lifestyle development, few examples exist in Southern Nevada.
"Cabrillo," however, is the genuine article. The two-building, 250,000-square-foot complex is located at the northeast corner of Buffalo Drive and Badura Avenue in Las Vegas. The project, on 10.57 acres, features 10 ground-level shops totaling 11,000 square feet. Spaces average 1,132 square feet in size; rents range from $1.75 to $2.25 per square foot. This property is geared toward everyday neighborhood uses like a small grocery store, a shoe store, a dentist's office.
"The whole point of this development was a work-live concept," said Coldwell Banker Premiere's Elle Gaensslen, the project's leasing agent. "There is automatic built-in business because you've got apartments as part of the complex.
Cabrillo's 252 apartments are 80 percent leased. Rental residences range from 695 square feet to 1,218 square feet in size. Nevada West Development, a Las Vegas-based company controlled by Kenneth Wooley, Martin Egbert and Robert Weidauer, is also responsible for the 385-unit Coronado Palms across the street at 8000 Badura Ave.
"A high density of on-site and nearby residents enhances the opportunity for retail," said Ken Perlman, vice president of Sullivan Real Estate Advisors, a residential market analyst. "Further, foreclosures and buyer uncertainty have helped create demand for transitional housing such as apartments.
Source: LVbusinessPress.com