Grading starts for Henderson project phase

Grading has begun for the first phase of what eventually will be a 2,200-acre master-planned community called Cadence in Henderson, the developer’s chief executive officer said Friday.

A 320-acre first phase will contain about 1,400 residential units, a neighborhood park, shopping center and small office buildings, Landwell Development CEO Mark Paris said.

Much of the preliminary work involves rerouting Mohawk Drive and improving Galleria Parkway, providing better access to U.S. Highway 95 and Galleria at Sunset mall, he said. The land is close to the proposed Union Village medical complex.

“The market is starting to look like it can support new development and our property is situated in a great central location. It’s 15 minutes from the airport,” Paris said. “There isn’t a lot of land out there, and ours is infill.”

As the new-home market has picked up locally, homebuilders are aggressively pursuing residential land acquisitions.

D.R. Horton bought 63 acres near Horizon Ridge Parkway and Gibson Road last year with plans for 305 residential lots, and it also closed escrow on 275 lots in Whitney Mesa Estates.

“We are very happy with our new acquisitions and look forward to delivering great homes to the area of Henderson where we have recently made these acquisitions,” said Brad Burns, president of D.R. Horton’s Nevada operations.

Landwell is developing neighborhood “superpads” that would be sold to homebuilders, probably 10 to 12 acres at a time, Paris said. The pads could provide anywhere from 50 to 100 residential lots.

The overall development is permitted for about 13,000 homes, including an age-restricted neighborhood.

Landwell agreed to sell the land to Centex Homes in 2004, but the deal fell out of escrow when the market crashed and Centex pulled out of Las Vegas, Paris said.

More than $60 million was spent on soil testing and removal of three feet of “dirty soil” on a portion of the land that was used as a waste pond for a magnesium plant during World War II.

Basic Management Inc., which acquired the land from the government in 1952, formed Landwell in 1999 to clean up the contaminated site. Soil remediation has been completed and Landwell is starting development on its own, Paris said.