“People have a choice when they decide where to live, and they continue to choose North Las Vegas. We offer everything they need,” said Mayor Pamela Goynes-Brown of the City of North Las Vegas. “We have great schools, amazing parks, community events and people want to live and do business in North Las Vegas.”
Goynes-Brown is newly elected to the position of mayor at the City, but she has a long history in North Las Vegas. “My legacy started when my family moved here in the 60s,” she said. “I’m the daughter of two longtime retired educators and my father actually served in the council seat that I was elected to [prior to becoming mayor].”
Mayor Goynes-Brown, like her father before her and the City of North Las Vegas itself, is breaking barriers, not only in southern Nevada, but also in the entire Silver State. The mayor’s father was the first African American to serve Ward 2 in North Las Vegas and the first to serve as Mayor Pro Tem.
“I was successful in winning the mayor’s race and I am the first African American mayor not only in the City of North Las Vegas, but the entire state of Nevada,” she said.
It comes as no surprise that North Las Vegas boasts the state’s first woman of color as mayor as the City is one of the most diverse in the nation. Also, its leadership is known for a creative and inclusive approach to City management. “We are a minority-majority population here in North Las Vegas,” said Jared Luke, director of government affairs and economic development for North Las Vegas. “Our goal is to attract and recruit new businesses and industries to our City. If an opportunity comes up, we’re going to pivot and do what we need to do to create or provide those opportunities. We want the companies that are going to provide quality and high paying jobs while also providing a diversity of employment opportunities.”
Making History
North Las Vegas was incorporated in 1946 and has seen a host of changes in its over 75 years of existence. Today the City’s population has grown to nearly 280,000 and North Las Vegas’ population is relatively young with a median age of just under 34. The City’s average household income is $67,035 per year, higher than the Nevada average. And home prices in North Las Vegas are lower, averaging over $100,000 below other homes in Clark County at $408,000. With higher wage job availability and a lower cost of living, North Las Vegas is an ideal place to raise a family, start a business or relocate.
The City just keeps getting better. “To understand where North Las Vegas is now, you have to know the history of where we were when I came on the council,” said Mayor Goynes-Brown. “When the Great Recession hit, North Las Vegas was hit hardest. Failure was not an option and that’s what we stuck to. We put together an aggressive and lofty vision and you see the benefits of that vision taking hold and moving forward as far as economic development, growth, diversification and attracting businesses to North Las Vegas.” Many of those new developments will bring downtown revitalization and new attractions to the area’s residents.
For example, Agora Realty and Management is working on several mixed-use projects in the area including the largest redevelopment project in North Las Vegas’ history. It is a master-planned commercial project that will include retail, restaurants, medical and community space.
“Our [downtown development] project is a crucial one as it serves as the entry point into the City,” explained Aaron Lefton, president of acquisitions and leasing for Agora. “City Hall visitors, residents and employees pass through this area, which carries a lot of responsibility to develop the correct project.” The development is focusing on adding medical services that are needed and is bringing in new tenants to serve North Las Vegas.
“It’s really exciting,” said Terri Sheridan, Economic Development Manager for North Las Vegas. “This investment and development by Agora will create 900 permanent jobs in our downtown area. That’s pretty incredible.”
The project is expected to be substantially complete by November 2024. “North Las Vegas boasts a thriving economy, thanks to the City’s supportive business environment,” said Lefton. “As one of the fastest growing cities in the US, North Las Vegas has seen great potential in its downtown.”
In addition to their newest development project, Agora recently completed an 8,400 square foot, multi-tenant building at Carey and Revere to accommodate local entrepreneurs. The developer also has plans for 16,000 square feet of retail and restaurant spaces at Las Vegas Blvd. and Belmont, as well as an additional 26,600 square feet of retail at Fiesta Plaza, a center Agora has owned for several years.
“Our Fiesta Plaza Shopping Center at Lake Mead Blvd. and Civic Center Dr. has retailers doing sales three times higher than the national average,” said Lefton. “Further investment in this area [is needed] to fill additional retail and medical voids.”
Now Developing
The City’s growth is unprecedented in recent years and many of the area’s developments have been planned for years. “I feel like I’m the closer on some of those [developments],” said Mayor Goynes-Brown. “They’ve been on the books, they’re planned, now it’s time to execute those plans.” She added, “It’s paying off, everything that we’ve done. It’s a good feeling.”
Among those developments is Helios Medical and Wellness Campus, located at Pecos and the 215. Using a holistic approach to healthcare, Helios will span 135 acres of mixed-use medical campus. The center will include 900,000 square feet for research and development space, 1.3 million square feet of medical space, 250,000 square feet of retail, fitness and food and beverage space and 290 hotel rooms.
“Helios is bridging the gap and creating the opportunity to attract medical providers and expand medical facilities we have in North Las Vegas,” said Sheridan. “[The project will include] a full-service hospital with 600 beds. The entire Helios campus will create almost 12,000 jobs.”
“It was BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land,” explained Mayor Goynes-Brown. “It’s exclusively a job creation zone. We will be creating thousands of jobs there and it will eventually encompass an additional 500 acres north of the 215.”
In addition to Helios, the area boasts the VA Medical Center, a 154 acre, 1.3 million square foot complex with 90 hospital beds and 120 nursing homes, and Nuro, an autonomous vehicle manufacturer building out 70,000 square feet with a $1.2 million capital investment.
Apex
The crown jewel for industrial development for southern Nevada and the City of North Las Vegas is Apex, with 7,000 developable acres. The area has been of interest to developers for many reasons; most importantly, it is the only area in southern Nevada that can provide large tracks of land and offers close proximity to a sizeable labor pool.
“When you look at the metrics, it used to be location, location, location for all real estate decisions,” said Keith Earnest, executive vice president of VanTrust. “Now, it’s logistics, labor and location. Location is still key, but the ability to get employees to work in those locations is a really big deal.”
VanTrust is developing Vantage North on over 350 acres in North Las Vegas of industrial, or 13 buildings, just outside of the Speedway submarket. “[We] call it South Apex,” said Earnest. “The cool thing about our parcel is you can see us if you’re standing at the Speedway. We feel like we’ve got great access to labor. We’ve got the benefit of being in the municipality of North Las Vegas, that is a ‘can do’ municipality with great leadership.”
In addition to a close labor pool, a significant portion of the United States’ population is reachable from Apex within a short time frame via trucking, making the industrial park a haven for logistics-driven organizations.
“[Southern Nevada] can serve about 9 percent of the United States’ population in a half day truck drive,” said Mathias Hughes, vice president, investment officer at Prologis. “When you combine that with a growing population and a very business friendly climate, it ends up being a place where we can do business and serve our customers well. A big ‘hat tip’ to the folks in the City of North Las Vegas for that.”
Hughes said that, since entering the southern Nevada market, Prologis has had a focus on North Las Vegas and developed close to 7 million square feet in the area. Prologis is planning approximately 2 million square feet of industrial space in Apex. “We’re really excited,” said Hughes. “It’ll be our first planned million square foot [speculative construction] in the state of Nevada.”
He added, “Our investment decision on this site was location driven. One of the big advantages [to Apex is], you can get large tracts of land that are capable of serving larger buildings. Las Vegas is losing out to cities like Phoenix. Apex [in North Las Vegas] affords us the opportunity to compete and show what [the region] has to offer for companies looking to relocate.”
“Our facilities take quite a bit of land, and it’s very limited,” said John Ramous, partner, Nevada with Dermody Properties. Dermody is developing the Logistics Center at Miner’s Mesa, a 664,000 square foot speculative build on the southside of Apex. “North Las Vegas is benefitting because it has large blocks of land,” said Ramous. He added that North Las Vegas, “sized it up and realized they had to make sure the [development] process moves quickly. They’ve been able to handle that.”
A Long Time Coming
“You know how long we’ve been working on [Apex]?” asked the mayor. “I can remember just coming on to the council and having those conversations. Now there’s finally movement. When you drive out there, you can actually see what’s going on. It just takes your breath away.”
One organization that has been along for the ride at Apex since the early stages is Land Development Associates (LDA). Founded by Lisa Cole, vice president and Dave Brown, president, LDA was created to form a partnership with North Las Vegas in the development of Apex. The firm assisted in the annexation of Apex into the City and has helped with the City’s vision for the industrial park by working with the City in bringing utilities to the area.
“Apex is the most successful industrial park right now in southern Nevada [because of] North Las Vegas,” said Brown. “The landscape that [former] Mayor Lee set forth had two speeds, fast and faster. And the entire staff lives by that motto. North Las Vegas has been the easiest to work with and that’s what makes us successful.”
Prior to Mayor Goynes-Brown being at the helm, quite a bit of groundwork for Apex was laid by previous leadership who prioritized bringing utilities to the industrial park.
“Our work to provide utilities and infrastructure to the underserved areas near the Speedway and to the Apex area has been transformational,” said Tom Brady, PE, LEED AP, director of utilities for the City of North Las Vegas. “Developing the projects to provide needed services in areas that previously had insufficient water, sewer and roadways to support development has been a game-changer in moving North Las Vegas forward as an ideal commercial and industrial hub. [We are] turning undevelopable land into truly prime real estate.”
“The City has done a lot of things out there to support industrial growth,” said Jeff Brigger, director of business development with NV Energy. “We want to be there right along with them as we plan our electric points and make sure to support all of the development.”
NV Energy recognizes the importance of a diversified Nevada economy and has partnered with the City of North Las Vegas to accomplish their shared goals. One of the goals is working with the City to bring in strong, manufacturing and logistics organizations as end users to large developments like Apex. “We have an open line of communication,” said Brigger. “These folks are bringing us customers. They’re building giant industrial buildings and attracting folks like Novva Data Centers and others that have landed in the City of North Las Vegas. That’s the same mission we have. We want to load up these buildings with new customers and diversify the southern Nevada economy. That’s one of the most exciting things I see happening.”
In addition to partnering with NV Energy and other utilities to lay the groundwork for industrial uses, the City has also made development standards easier for those looking to build in the park.
“Part of that is the Apex Overlay District that governs the City of North Las Vegas property at Apex,” said Cole. “That provides some reduced development standards. It really saves on costs to developers. They don’t have to do curb, gutter, sidewalk and some of the real big-ticket items, that’s very helpful to them. It’s more of a rural industrial feel.”
“Industrial design criteria within Apex is more relaxed than the rest of the City,” said Sheridan. “We realize it’s an industrial park, so the building requirements are lessened at Apex. That will aid in the continued success of Apex.”
City Renaissance
While excitement continues for the potential at Apex, the City of North Las Vegas as a whole is experiencing a renaissance and on the forefront of growth and economic diversification in the state. By revitalizing the downtown area, focusing on bringing in high paying jobs and diversifying the services available to residents, North Las Vegas is fortifying its reputation as the place to be in southern Nevada.
The City has new housing developments on the way, such as the Village at Tule Springs, a master-planned community that will spread over 15 years and eventually have 8,600 homes over 6,000 acres. At the same time, leadership is working to beautify the City and increase the amount of green spaces in the community.
“The City of North Las Vegas offers something for everyone,” said Cass Palmer, director, neighborhood and leisure services for the City. “We have more than 30 parks in which to enjoy the outdoors, 13 miles of trails to walk, run and bike on, recreation centers offering everything from ceramics to gymnastics to swimming and great golfing. And, of course, there is our 200-acre crown jewel, Craig Ranch Regional Park. [The park] offers residents world class entertainment and special events year-round.”
“I want to focus on our parks,” said Mayor Goynes-Brown. “If I go to a park in a brand-new subdivision and I walk in a park in an older subdivision, I [want] to get the same feeling. I want all of our parks to look like paradise.”
The City is breaking down barriers for developers, business owners and residents. “Driving around North Las Vegas I’m impressed with the growth here in the City and the community that I call home,’” said Mayor Goynes-Brown. “It’s incredible to see the amazing, phenomenal growth that’s happened over the years; you can’t hold a torch to it.”
“If you want a small-town sense of community, but with big-town amenities, North Las Vegas is the perfect place to live,” said Palmer. “We’re small enough that you’ll get to know your neighbors and our location is convenient and easy to get anywhere you want in the greater Las Vegas Valley.”
“Keep an eye on North Las Vegas,” Sheridan added. “We will continue to think outside the box, break barriers, create news and be the development and industry leader for southern Nevada.”
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