by Eli Segall, Las Vegas Review-Journal, April 19, 2022
After opening an upscale rental complex in Las Vegas’ Symphony Park last year, a Nashville developer is pushing ahead with plans for more apartment construction in the downtown area.
Southern Land Co. expects to begin site work this fall on its next apartment project in Symphony Park, company spokeswoman Jenna Lefever told the Review-Journal last week.
Plans call for more than 500 units spread among a five-story building and a 22-story tower, according to Tracy Reich, the city’s redevelopment manager. Lefever indicated that the smaller building would start first and that site work for the high-rise would begin in about a year.
Additionally, the City Council last month approved the developer’s plans for a 335-unit apartment complex at the intersection of California Avenue and Third Street in Las Vegas’ Arts District.
Lefever did not say when the company would break ground on that one.
The Arts District project site is mostly vacant land but includes a shuttered commercial building that, when a Review-Journal reporter visited last week, had broken windows, graffiti and a homeless person lying down inside.
After facing questions and chaos when the pandemic hit, Southern Nevada’s rental market heated up over the past year as people looked for more space amid widespread work-from-home arrangements. Developers are building more apartment complexes in the valley, tenants have faced fast-rising rents and rental properties have sold for increased values.
Apartment construction has been heavily concentrated in the suburban outer rings over the past several years, though a small but growing number of urban-area projects have also taken shape, including in downtown Las Vegas.
Reich, the redevelopment manager, said the city is “starting to see momentum” of people wanting to live downtown, and more residents there means more services can be drawn to the area.
“It just helps overall with the vibrancy of the downtown,” she said.
Lefever said in an email that Southern Land is building more apartments “to help meet a need and offer dynamic, luxury residential options in areas of Las Vegas that we anticipate will only continue to transform and thrive.”
Its new project in Symphony Park is next to Auric, a 324-unit rental complex it developed that boasts a resort-style pool area, a resident lounge with bar, and concierge service.
Auric is about 70 percent leased, Lefever said.
She also said that the company is “aware of unhoused individuals residing” at its Arts District property and that it is working with “appropriate groups … to properly assist them in the short-term.”
She indicated that demolition of the building is expected to start within the next few weeks.
Contact Eli Segall at [email protected] or 702-383-0342. Follow @eli_segall on Twitter.