See Las Vegas's Mixed Use Projects
Mixed use is the en vogue development of the moment, in the Las Vegas Valley and nationwide.
In discussions with Las Vegas-area developers, almost every one says they have mixed-use centers in the works.
Some of these projects include a mix of pedestrian retail centers, mixing residential and office uses.
Other projects meld together fast food restaurants, storage facilities and offices or retail.
Which definition is correct? Both are, actually.
According to the ICSC's Dictionary of Shopping Center Terms, "mixed-use center are centers that typically combine at least three revenue-producing uses from among retail, office, parking, restaurant, hotel, residential and entertainment facilities. They may be built in suburban or urban areas. In downtown areas, where land costs are high, a multilevel or high rise, or single-mass design is commonly used to minimize the land area needed."
"That's really the challenge out there -- developers have their own take on what mixed use is," said Patrice Duker, spokeswoman for the International Council of Shopping Centers. "Our guidelines are a framework."
But there is an industry idea of what mixed use is, or rather, should be, Duker said.
Duker said the image created by the term mixed use is a development that includes residential, a hotel and/or an entertainment component. It also tends to be high end, she said.
"Really, that's what we're saying," Duker said.
To further confuse the matter, local municipalities have their own mixed-use definitions.
Clark County defined what it terms as mixed use when it developed its mixed-use overlay district.
The county defines mixed use as: The combination of commercial (office or retail) and residential development on a single lot or within a single building or within a single integrated development, on multiple lots or on property designated for mixed uses in any adopted land-use plan, neighborhood plan or concept plan or on property developed or planned for mixed uses.
Rod Allison, planning manager for Clark County's Comprehensive Planning department, said the thrust of the definition is that mixed use integrates commercial and residential.
"The county is going through a change from single-use development to more integrated mixed-use development," he said.
The city of Henderson, which updated its zoning ordinance to allow for the development of American Nevada Company's The District at Green Valley Ranch, located at Green Valley Parkway and Interstate 215, is again looking at the code to make sure projects are evaluated correctly.
American Nevada is owned by the Greenspun family, owners of In Business Las Vegas.
Steve Dush , principal planner for Henderson's Community Development department, said the city wants to take into consideration, among other things, land use, both on the site and for surrounding areas, size of the location, and themes within the project itself.
Henderson 's "purpose statement" regarding mixed use provides for a mixture of residential, commercial, research and development or public uses. The development can be a vertical mixing or a horizontal mix, but well connected to each other.
Dush said under the city's definition, a mixed-use project needs to have residential.
"If it's not residential, it's probably just commercial," he said. "And then it most likely will fit into one of the existing zoning districts."
John Kilduff, president of American Nevada, said that the classic definition of mixed use is a development with three or more revenue producing uses. But he said the developers are using the phrase to evoke the image of a chic urban environment.
"The nature of the development within that (ICSC) definition is where these communities will be successful or unsuccessful," he said. "People will truly enjoy that environment or they won't."
Kilduff's idea of mixed-use development is a center that has a true pedestrian orientation, a coherent plan within permitted densities.
"I've been watching with interest what people are calling mixed use and the retail tenants they expect to attract," he said. "I'll be surprised if a number of them will be successful."
Jeffrey LaPour , president of LaPour partners, said every developer will have their own definition of mixed use.
"Different people call it different things," he said. "Mixed use is a mixture of business in the same space, a mixture of uses in the same building and a mixture of uses in the same community," LaPour said. "It's such a widely used term."
LaPour renovated the defunct Holsum Bread building near downtown Las Vegas into the Holsum Lofts, putting showrooms, offices, live/work studios and a restaurant into the building. LaPour said he also thinks of mixed use as including offices, retail and hotel components.
"In Las Vegas what we're seeing is retail and residential so far. That's the hot trend now," he said. "Some things coming that combine those two uses with hospitality."
LaPour said he is looking into other mixed-use projects but said he isn't far enough along to talk about them.
So developers are technically correct when they call their project mixed use when it includes three revenue-producing uses from office, retail and other commercial. But it appears the valley is leaning toward a true mix of uses in developments that integrates residential, hospitality or entertainment.
In other news:
• Lee & Associates, Las Vegas, reported that apartment vacancies went up in July to 5.09 percent from June, which had a vacancy rate of 4.76 percent.
ZIP code 89134, in the west Las Vegas Valley, had the highest apartment vacancy in July at 19.72 percent. Apartment properties in ZIP code 89141, in the southwest Las Vegas Valley, reported having no vacancies.
The new office will concentrate on residential resale, but also will cover new construction and commercial properties. Windermere Real Estate/Henderson-Anthem Hills has 25 active sales associates. Another 40 agents are expected to be hired by the end of the year.
• Christopher Commercial has started construction on its 53,000-square-foot office building in Parkway Pointe at the northeast corner of Summerlin Parkway and Town Center Drive.
