Las Vegas makes pitch for new homes downtown

LAS VEGAS - A former federal housing official and the nation's largest home builder are considering urban Las Vegas for residential redevelopment.

Henry Cisneros, former Housing and Urban Development secretary, said his company is looking for neighborhoods that have been passed up for residential development.

Under a privately funded proposal by American CityVista Corp. and the nation's largest home builder Kaufman and Broad Homes Corp., 20- to 50-acre parcels of land would be purchased in urban areas throughout the country, Cisneros said. Those areas would then become the sites of 80- to 120-home communities.

By building homes at estimated values of $120,000 or slightly less in economically starved areas, Cisneros, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman and Kaufman and Broad executives hope property values and community pride will increase and encourage other development.

Goodman took Cisneros on a tour Monday of nine city parcels that have potential for residential development in east, west and downtown Las Vegas. Some of the parcels are privately owned, others are held by the city.

If Las Vegas is chosen as a site for the private enterprise, Goodman said the city would help encourage development by addressing potential zoning issues and helping in the sale of the parcels.

At least half of the nine properties Cisneros toured held potential for American CityVista, he said. The companies are also inspecting property in such cities as Denver, Phoenix, Houston and Austin, Texas.

If Las Vegas were chosen, the companies hope to sell as many as 3,000 homes in the Las Vegas Valley a year. The homes would be offered through traditional home financing.