Planned industrial area in Eldorado Valley angers locals

Some local residents are angry about an upcoming development in the Eldorado Valley that will be part of Henderson, not Boulder City.

DIV Industrial, a newly formed real estate firm, announced plans to build a 1.7 million-square-foot logistics industrial center in Eldorado Valley on a 94-acre parcel of land annexed by Henderson last year. The project site, along U.S. Highway 95, is near vast stretches of open desert and massive arrays of solar panels.

The company aims to break ground this summer, and it’s not the only one to venture to Eldorado Valley. As much as 10 million square feet of industrial space could be built there, said Logic Commercial Real Estate broker Amy Ogden, who worked on the land sale to DIV.

While the land was in unincorporated Clark County before annexation, some Boulder City residents are displeased with Henderson’s expansion into the Eldorado Valley.

“I don’t know anybody in Boulder City who is happy about that,” said former Councilman James Howard Adams.

According to Adams, there were significantly less options for Boulder City to fight the annexation by the time he was elected to City Council, which he said was “too little, too late.”

Adams said Boulder City was too focused on other projects, including possible plans for Boulder City to annex and develop land in the Eldorado Valley as well, to do anything to stop Henderson’s annexation of the land.

“Personally, I think Boulder City kind of fell asleep at the wheel a little bit there,” said Adams.

One Boulder City resident who is unhappy with the planned complex is Judy Dechaine.

Dechaine was concerned about how the planned complex would be protected by emergency services, where it would get its water and how it would handle its wastewater. She was concerned that all of those services would end up coming from Boulder City despite the complex being in Henderson.

“For them to put in a big industrial area on what everyone thinks is our side of the mountain is pretty rotten,” said Dechaine, who also owns two properties in Henderson.

Positive relationship

Even though there is opposition to the project, both Adams and Boulder City Communications Manager Lisa LaPlante said the city’s relationship with Henderson is a positive one.

“We have an excellent relationship with Henderson’s leaders, and they have pledged to keep us informed of any projects planned on their property,” LaPlante said in an email.

Lance Olson, Henderson’s director of public works, reaffirmed that Henderson and Boulder City have worked closely on this project. He also said the two towns are working together on a concurrent annexation of another parcel of land in the Eldorado Valley, where he said Boulder City and Henderson will split the land.

LaPlante confirmed that Boulder City is working to annex about 2,500 acres of land in the Eldorado Valley this year.

Henderson will provide emergency services, water and wastewater to the planned complex, according to Olson. He said a police station already serves the area and the fire department can serve it through two existing fire stations, but there are long-term plans to build a closer station.

Location attractive

DIV co-founder Nicholas Ilagan said there aren’t any land tracts left in the Las Vegas Valley to develop big-box industrial space. As he sees it, Eldorado Valley is “really well-located.”

He said his company was “absolutely” drawn to Eldorado Valley in part by the lower land prices.

Property records show DIV purchased its site in December for $15 million, or almost $159,000 per acre.

A consortium of landowners have teamed up to master plan approximately 1,000 acres in the Eldorado Valley for industrial use, said Logic’s Ogden.

Other buyers in the new industrial pocket include Overton Moore Properties, which acquired nearly 125 acres there last year for $44 million, property records show.

Overton Moore CEO Timur Tecimer did not respond to requests for comment.

As seen in the Henderson records, the firms involved in master-planning Eldorado Valley include Panattoni Development Co., a prominent warehouse builder in Southern Nevada. Efforts to speak with Panattoni partner Doug Roberts, who oversees his company’s Nevada projects, were unsuccessful.

Western States Contracting CEO Weston Adams, who acquired more than 300 acres in Eldorado Valley last year for $30 million, said he will use around 100 acres for long-term aggregate mining. Roughly 200 acres can be developed with industrial warehouse projects.

He said he’s already received multiple unsolicited offers for his property.

“The demand is there,” Adams said.

Las Vegas Review-Journal staff writer Eli Segall contributed to this report.

Contact Mark Credico at mcredico@reviewjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @MarkCredicoII.