LAS VEGAS | Boom Project Rundown! 2.0

[illmatic774]

WTF!?!?!? 160,000?

Fuck, thats more like insane if you ask me.

[vegasrain84]

160,000 homes in the middle of nowhere?? Why?? I mean Lincoln County isn't a real happening place.. I can see maybe mesquite.. But this plot of land is in the middle of the desert.. in the middle of nothing.. Why dont they focus on building up along the west side of I-15 near Jean.. That would be smart.. That area will be full of stuff in a few more years especially with the new Ivanpah airport which is being planned.. Jobs, commerical development will be going in down near Jean in the next 10 years. That to me would be smart growth, plus its only 25 miles from Vegas vs. 55 miles to this "planned community of 160,000", and it has access to a major highway.. But hey what the hell do I know?? lol...


On another topic, I noticed as I was going down the strip today that Between CityCenter and Cosmo, there are a ton of cranes going up, at least 10.. Have they officially broken ground yet, because it looks to me like they have at least started some preliminary work? hmm...

[Bender13]

Oh man. I used to work for a residential designer who did projects for some of the big home builders here. I remember seeing preliminary concepts of that Coyote Springs development.

One of the big problems is that all those people who move out there will commute to Vegas by car. The only way out there is that old highway. After those people begin to move out there, this highway will make Blue Diamond Road look like a nice peaceful drive. Then just like Blue Diamond, after a few deaths, there will be public outcry for the county to widen the road, which they will do at taxpayer expense. And the developers will be left with all the profits and none of the infrastructure expenses of building a development out in the middle of nowhere.

[JonVegas]

Has anyone else noticed the new (brighter/multicolored) lighting scheme on the Stratoshere? I'm a fan.

[ScottG]

^^^^^yea!

i noticed that driving on the 15 (freeway). i do like it, it makes a more noticable presence.

[vegasrain84]

Sky should be topping out soon.. It is way bigger than I thought it would be being that it is only 45 floors.. I think the floors must have 12 foot ceilings..

I also noticed the gold glass being installed on both the back and the front of TRUMP.

The W Hotel and Residence Site is putting in lots of palm trees and more white construction barriers and fencing. The Sales Center is coming along nicely.. This project is definatly going to be built..



Here is my casual observation: Those projects which build their own Sales Center, and who spend a good chunk of money on their sales center have at least a 60%-70% chance of being built.

Suprisingly not a whole lot of projects have been cancelled (yet).. There are over 120 towers proposed, and only a handful have actually been cancelled.

I think that we will see an additional 15-25 towers of varying heights go under construction by years end.

[LMich]

Originally Posted by Reverie

A Future Bedroom Community for Vegas or sprawl getting insane?

Another interesting article, think about this seriously for a bit, I think it's mindblowing to put this in the middle of nowhere.

160,000 homes planned for Coyote Springs
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/st...566629973.html

I can't begin to even form words on how irresponsibly crazy this idea is. I'd like to see those 160,000 units kept inside the valley, and leave untouched nature well enough alone. It's not as if there is no more room, and even then it would be more responsible to keep building upward than leaping over mountain ranges to find virgin lands to rape.

[JonVegas]

LMich, I couldn't agree more. And, it's not as if there is no vacant land in the Valley. There are plenty of sections of town that are dying for development. Why build it out there? The greed and shortsightedness are staggering.

[The_Analyst]

Wasn't it just about 100 years ago that Vegas itself was "in the middle of nowhere?" Wasn't Bugsy Siegel viewed as a fool for building the Flamingo "in the middle of nowhere?" Wasn't Howard Hughes considered crazy for buying land miles from the Strip "in the middle of nowhere?" (And that middle of nowhere is now known as Summerlin). My point is that whether this development actually succeeds, I actually admire the guy for trying to create a vision of something. You could call it greed, but frankly, guys like Hughes, Wynn, Trump, Flagler (in Florida), et al., don't do anything for purely altruistic purposes do they?

Now, don't get me wrong, I am a fan of urban density. However, American culture is far from consistent and the 3 bedroom, 2 bath, single family home with a yard and a garage is pretty entrenched in our psyche as the embodiment of the American dream. Not everyone can afford a $600,000 high rise condo, and even if they were priced at $200,000 there's still a sizable population that would choose to go 50 miles out for a $200,000 SFR home rather than a condo.

I do agree that the highway access needs to be considered but then again, is Vegas paying for the infrastructure work on I-15 through Victorville, CA even though probably 90% of the traffic is on the way to Vegas?

I'm all for suceess as well. The main thing is with the old guys like Hughes back then was that many of them could possibly how big Vegas would get. Adding 160,000 homes to a small city that Vegas was back then didn't seem so unreasonable. Water and other resources were an afterthought as water was seen as "plentiful" back then. Note all the gold courses and wasteful developments such as Desert Shores (near Summerlin) with its three huge lake, complete with boating piers! Needless to say they would never build those lakes today. I'm sure Coyote Springs will go with the water saving trends in the valley by banning front yard lawns, using desert landscaping and such, but it would make far more sense to build within the valley with its already existing infrastructure then having to draw pipes, power, gas to that empty valley up north.

I guess the suburban culture is a main reason. It would be a dream to think any western US city will overnight turn into a high density Hong Kong or Manhattan. But who knows waht it will be in 10-20 years as the timeline of Coyote Springs being built out is even longer than that. I hope we don't become North Phoenix by then.

[LMich]

Again, what you're missing is that we're talking about building a massive bedroom community outside the confines of the valley, which has not even filled up, itself. There is still more than enough room for even more sprawled suburban development. This "leap-frog" development, overleaping entire mountain ranges to build on virgin lands that don't necessarily need to be developed now (or even in the next decade) is irresponsible, and more importantly, unsustainable in the long run. I've been rather kind to excuse much of the sprawl within the valley, but this concept is just plain ridiculous. The idea is a perfect representation of everything wrong with the worst kind of sprawl. I'm not backing down, at all, on how ridiculous Coyote Springs sounds. We're not talking the great contiguous expansions of Vegas over the decades. We're talking of entire new cities being built outside of the confines of the Vegas valley to serve the Vegas (leap-frog development), a totally different, and much more irresponsible, concept.

Not just ridiculous, insanity in every sense of the word As a fan of the desert who actually does see the beauty and what almost everyone else from other areas calls "a barren wasteland" (see turtle photo below), it's quite saddening. What irks me the most is that government did nothing to stop it.



Here's the photos incase you missed the links on the article page itself.

HARVEY WHITTEMORE, developer of Coyote Springs Valley, looks toward the 43,000-acre master-planned community site from a deserted section of U.S. 93 on Tuesday


WHITTEMORE discussing golf course plans with Jack Nicklaus. Note nothingness in the background. Why Mr. Nicklaus are you helping him?


The first of the planned 16 golf courses under construction. What water may be saved probably goes to watering these things. What a waste. The new golf course ban in the vegas valley probably isn't in effect here it seems.


Eviction of the previous tenants of the land


I know there will probably never be enough hi rise units to house a significant portion of Vegas but even if it's 50,000 downtown that's better then nothing. Time will tell. We'll see if he really gets thqt many houses sold or it becomes a bust when gas prices reach $5 a gallon. Though I think retirees may be a major portion of residents there due to the amount of golf courses planned.

Back on high rises, I think I saw drilling devices onsite at citycenter, right around where I think the two main towers are supposed to be. Has it really started? Someone get a closer look, maybe from the Monte Carlo parking garage to the south.

[GeorgeLV]

Originally Posted by LMich

Again, what you're missing is that we're talking about building a massive bedroom community outside the confines of the valley, which has not even filled up, itself. There is still more than enough room for even more sprawled suburban development. This "leap-frog" development, overleaping entire mountain ranges to build on virgin lands that don't necessarily need to be developed now (or even in the next decade) is irresponsible, and more importantly, unsustainable in the long run. I've been rather kind to excuse much of the sprawl within the valley, but this concept is just plain ridiculous. The idea is a perfect representation of everything wrong with the worst kind of sprawl. I'm not backing down, at all, on how ridiculous Coyote Springs sounds. We're not talking the great contiguous expansions of Vegas over the decades. We're talking of entire new cities being built outside of the confines of the Vegas valley to serve the Vegas (leap-frog development), a totally different, and much more irresponsible, concept.

Don't forget that the various federal widlife preserves and blm boundaries guarantee that any development outside of the valley must leapfrong entire mountain ranges to get to unprotected land.

[Patrick]

poor tortise ugh building more water wasting golf courses....

[Vegas Grows Up]

It makes me sad to see the turtoise also. Enough is enough. I say we stop the sprawl and keep goin vertical! Save the wildlife and much better on water reclamation as my broker Bruce Hiatt always says!

Speaking of highrises, I thought everyone would enjoy these shots of the Cosmo and City Center dirt along with a new perspective of Panorama 1 and 2. I took these from the 35th floor penthouse at MGM Signature Tower A! AMAZING VIEWS

[Bender13]

Awesome pictures! Looks like CityCenter is under way. I thought they were still just working on the parking garage. This site is going to look so great once all those cranes start going up. Thanks for the pics Vegas Grows Up.

[ScottG]

cosmo has a looooooooooooooooooooooooooong way to go!

btw that citycenter construction office that went up behind new york new york is now finished, and open. but now across the street theres alot of construction goin on. its a small lot of anything to go on. anyone know whats happening?

also aladdin is almost done being blue. weird.why is panorama tower 1 taing so long to get rid of their last crane -same with the pams, but that tower is just crazy ugly.

i went by the pazzo and boy that thing is goin up fast. thats gunna be a great resort when finished. its funny, when they get done building those sky bridges that intersection starts booming with people. remember when the fashion show (mall) was so north that it wasnt considered to be part of the heavy foot traffic. the strip kinda died down after venetian, but now wynn and the bridges really 'extended' the strip.

its werid how each segment of the strip has its own action......

from mandalay to new york new york theres no foot traffic outside (its all inside form excalibur to mandaly) then the bridges, then from MGM to bellagio is the most foot traffic. because of showcase, the bellagio fountains, eiffle tower. then bridges. then from venetian to fashion show theresless foot traffic - because people stop in the venetian- carry over to TI. then bridges. then the wynn gets its gaugers and the mall has heavy foot traffic.

Once the palazzo opens that place is goin the adjust where the center of the strip is. - then encore, new fronteir, echelon, west ward hoe. etc etc etc etc. the hot-spot resorts now, are goin to see less business when these newer, more exciting place get built....

just dont forget about that small citycenter project goin up

Good photos. Although it's old now having been taken on 5/14, a week is an eternity here in Vegas There are a lot more drills at the Citycenter site now I'm guessing for the main towers. There are also more cranes on the Cosmo site as well.

Clever. I see what the citycenter guys did, when they got rid of all those little buildings along LV Blvd, they paved a temp parking lot there, so that they could relocate the cars from the area where they want to drill for the citycenter towers and thus start work on the towers before the Bellagio garage even opens. smart.

Citycenter is of course my favorite project. The biggest privately financed project in the country. When it goes up, it's not simply just building another building but building history itself.


Town Square will build fly-over ramp to ease traffic woes

Town Square will build fly-over ramp to ease traffic woes
BY TONY ILLIA
BUSINESS PRESS

Crowded malls can be a pain to navigate. Parking lots often are filled early ... so angry motorists then have to circle like piranha for an available parking spot ... which backs up traffic on main arteries. You get the idea. However, the developers of Town Square have solved that problem.

Turnberry Associates and Centra Properties are spending $3 million to construct a fly-over ramp in front of the 117-acre lifestyle development at I-15 and the Beltway, just south of Mandalay Bay. Little things like traffic access can often make or break a project.

The road improvement will help mitigate traffic flow along Las Vegas Boulevard. Motorists traveling north will be able to take the fly-over directly into Town Square. The fly-over then becomes an access road that loops around the perimeter of the complex.
Town Square retail structures are taking shape in anticipation of an October 2007 debut.

63,000 CARS EXPECTED DAILY

The fly-over creates quick, easy access to Town Square's planned 150 retail shops and 12 restaurants. Northbound and southbound motorists also can enter from the main Las Vegas Boulevard entrance. Roughly 6,800 cars a day now pass in front of the Town Square project site, but that number is expected swell past 63,000 when the complex debuts in October 2007.

"This is the only fly-over ramp of its kind in Nevada that takes motorists from a public street into a private parking lot," said John Toth, a Clark County traffic engineer. "The fly-over ramp will do two things: It will eliminate the need to add a traffic signal, and it will allow continual, unrestricted northbound access into Town Square."

The $750 million, 1.5 million-square-foot Town Square project calls for restaurants such as the Yardhouse, Brio, Sapporo and Claim Jumper, along with 100,091 square feet of loft-style Class A office space.

20-SCREEN MOVIE THEATER

Several national retailers have already signed leases, including: Victoria's Secret, Chico's, Lucky Brand, Cache and Tommy Bahama. There also will be an 89,000-square-foot, 20-screen movie theater onsite, operated by Dallas-based Rave Motion Pictures; a 24 Hour Fitness; a two-level, 92,000-square-foot Robb & Stucky home furnishings outlet; a 22,000-square-foot Borders Bookstore; a 50,000-square-foot Whole Foods; and a 270-room boutique hotel.

Town Square additionally incorporates the existing 175,000-square-foot Frye's Electronics superstore at 6845 Las Vegas Boulevard. Centra and Turnberry paid the Clark County Department of Aviation $5 million for the ground lease to the 16-acre site two years ago.

Town Square additionally features interconnecting side streets and 5,659 parking spaces with two garage structures.

"We are creating a one-of-a-kind shopping and entertainment destination and we want to make the Town Square experience as pleasant as possible from the moment patrons approach the site," said Jim Gdula, Turnberry Associates' director of development. "This design could set a precedent and may be an attractive solution for other developments with heavy traffic flow in the Las Vegas Valley."

In addition to the fly-over, developers are spending $7 million in other traffic upgrades, including a widened portion of southbound Las Vegas Boulevard from I-215 to Sunset Road. Construction on widening is scheduled to start this summer. The developers are also adding traffic signals, sidewalks, bus shelters and landscaping.

www.townsquarelasvegas.com

[Vegas Grows Up]

Glad everyone enjoyed the pictures! Here are some more taken from 35th floor Signature Tower A.

Take note of the final picture....Look how the crane ties into Tower B every 10 floors or so...Well look how it does not tie in at all until like the 20th floor. Bringing heavy buckets up is very exciting Im sure.



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[MsuMix]

CityCenter has a long way to go. lots of demo and utility relocation to be done on the site. Foundations will probably start coming along soon.