A new apartment building opened its doors in Las Vegas’ Historic Westside, bringing waves of housing and retail space to a community long overlooked by developers.
Las Vegas developer Sam Cherry held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday for Share Westside, a five-story, 104-unit complex at the northeast corner of Jefferson Avenue and D Street.
Cherry said in an interview at the grand-opening event that his team has already signed six leases and that he expects to receive a temporary certificate of occupancy at the end of this week, which would let tenants move in.
He purchased the land for this project and a commercial complex he’s developing next door from the city of Las Vegas for just $6, given that the deal was poised to boost economic development in the area.
Cherry said it cost $26 million to build the apartment complex.
Each apartment is a one-bedroom, 580-square-foot unit, with 84 of them subject to a covenant with the city that effectively limits the rental rates, and price increases, on those homes.
Rents start at $1,275 per month for those units and at $1,500 per month for the remaining 20 market-rate apartments.
‘We are building something special’
A community once defined by segregation, the Historic Westside has long been passed over by developers who for decades have been expanding the Las Vegas Valley’s waistline farther out.
The neighborhood still grapples with boarded-up buildings, vacant lots and other issues. But momentum has been building lately, as several real estate developments were launched in the historically Black community in recent years.
“We are building something special in the neighborhood, and it starts with adding more residents,” City Councilwoman Shondra Summers-Armstrong, whose ward includes the Westside, said at the event.
Gov. Joe Lombardo told attendees that Cherry’s project reflects the kind of progress Nevada needs to strengthen neighborhoods and support working families.
“And nowhere is that more meaningful than here in the Historic Westside,” Lombardo said.
Cherry, chief executive of Cherry Development, opened Share-branded apartment buildings in Las Vegas’ Arts District and Fremont Street area over the past several years.
His newest one includes ground-floor retail space leased by the city of Las Vegas, which plans to sublease the space to local businesses.
Johnathan King, real estate specialist with Las Vegas’ economic and urban development department, said on Wednesday that the city is leasing just over 7,000 square feet in Share Westside.
Officials aim to bring a mix of tenants, including food-and-beverage, clothing boutique and salon or barbershop operators, he said.
New developments
Other projects are also underway in the Historic Westside.
Cherry, for instance, held a ceremonial groundbreaking in February for the Good Word Social Club, a two-story, 9,000-square-foot commercial complex next to his new apartment building.
The Las Vegas Redevelopment Agency is leasing the Good Word, and the city plans to bring in an operator for the space, officials have said.
Overall, the city appropriated $8.2 million combined for tenant improvements in both properties, city spokesman Jace Radke previously said.
Meanwhile, the redevelopment of Marble Manor, a roughly 36-acre public housing complex along Washington Avenue just east of Martin Luther King Boulevard, is expected to last several years and cost $350 million to $400 million.
Plans call for 627 newly built units — including townhomes and apartment buildings and a mix of low-income and market-rate units — along with a community center, retail space and other features.
The first phase of construction is underway, after the existing homes in that section were demolished last year.
Also, consulting group MYS Firm is developing a one-story office building in the Westside that is expected to feature an entrepreneurial training center, with programming aimed at young people.
Plus, the new West Las Vegas Library and the Historic Westside Education and Training Center both opened last year.
Contact Eli Segall at esegall@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342.
