The City of North Las Vegas turned 75 in 2021.
When incorporated in 1946, North Las Vegas was a sleepy, bedroom community. Today, North Las Vegas is a thriving metropolis with one of the strongest economies in the state. Through a pro-business approach, North Las Vegas is the epicenter of commerce, manufacturing and logistics in southern Nevada.
The origins of the City of North Las Vegas date back to the 1800s, to a 240- acre homestead established by Conrad Kiel. The first town board was elected in 1932, the same year the first school was established. In 1946, the population numbered 2,875 and the town covered just 2.31 square miles. Today’s population is estimated at 277,000 residents, a 24 percent increase since 2010, and the city has expanded to 100.5 square miles.
The 2008 Great Recession took a toll and the City of North Las Vegas was among the hardest hit in the nation. However, through careful design and thoughtful planning, city leadership created and executed an unprecedented plan to save North Las Vegas from receivership. By 2019, North Las Vegas regained its A and A+ bond ratings and today boasts an A+ rating.
Mayor John Lee grew up in North Las Vegas when it was a small, bedroom community. At that time, residents either worked at Nellis Air Force Base or in travel and tourism.
“Nobody in North Las Vegas actually owned their own business,” Lee said. “It was other companies that came into the city, or national chains and stores. We didn’t have a lot of business leaders here.”
Transformation from bedroom community to ground-breaking city didn’t happen overnight. The city was two weeks away from state receivership when Lee took office in 2013. In just eight years, through the vision and hard work of the City Council and their teams, North Las Vegas has reemerged as the most fiscally stable city in the state. The city’s social contract with its taxpayers has been the key to that transformation.
“You have to grow your community and grow in certain areas where it’s going to bring in the value your residents are asking for,” Lee said. “That social contract says, ‘You give us tax dollars, we’ll provide you with services.’”
Building a financially strong community the “North Las Vegas Way” involves strategically recruiting targeted businesses and industries. It requires working with owners, developers, entrepreneurs and stakeholders to help companies and investments grow.
Successful growth is intelligent growth, and City of North Las Vegas officials go above and beyond to help new companies navigate administrative requirements. City leadership also thoughtfully anticipates the needs of companies looking to invest in North Las Vegas. Through investments in water and sewer lines ahead of development, businesses looking to move to North Las Vegas have the resources they need to hit the ground running.
In the past, out-of-state companies would arrive in southern Nevada with their own architects, engineers and builders. Local talent missed out on opportunities for work and professionals and profits would leave the city once the project was completed.
To solve the problem, create local jobs and fast-track projects, the City of North Las Vegas developed a self-certification program that slashes permit wait times from several months to just four days. City staff lead day-long workshops for local architects and engineers to explain city processes and requirements. For companies that choose to use local firms, work can begin almost immediately, in tandem with the approval process. This cuts down project timelines and saves millions of dollars – money entrepreneurs have successfully reinvested in North Las Vegas.
“We are getting people’s money to work for them quicker,” said Lee.
Companies come to North Las Vegas from all over the country, but especially the Southwest. North Las Vegas is just five hours from Salt Lake City and four hours from Los Angeles and Phoenix. North Las Vegas is so ideally located that companies build logistics and distribution hubs and manufacturing plants that service a quarter of the U.S. from just a day’s drive.
Development Opportunities
There’s still room to grow in North Las Vegas. Lee expects there’s land for another 20 years of building before old structures need to come down to make way for new.
“The city’s approach to business makes developing within the city seamless,” said Aaron Lefton, president, acquisitions and leasing, Agora Management, Inc. “The building department is always accessible and willing to work through issues that may arise.”
Agora is building a ground-up, multitenant 8,400-square-foot retail project at the intersection of Carey Avenue and Revere Street. The company is also building out the final phase of Fiesta Plaza, adding 33,000-square-feet of retail space for goods, services and restaurants in a revitalized downtown North Las Vegas.
“Our retailers on site are currently surpassing the national average for sales for those retailers, and some of those stores are doing triple the national average,” Lefton added.
VanTrust Real Estate has developed more than 5.5 million-square-feet so far in North Las Vegas, including the Northgate Distribution Center. Amazon took three of the nine building development, including one 813,000-square-foot fulfillment center on 38 acres. Other companies located at Northgate include Packaging Corporation of America and Fanatics.
“The city has expedited permits and reviews, and they’re a great project partner,” said Keith Earnest, executive vice president, VanTrust Real Estate. “If we were working with a non-cooperative or non-collaborative municipality, we couldn’t have accomplished all the things we’ve done. It’s truly a public-private partnership.”
Apex
North Las Vegas is home to Apex Industrial Park, a unique 18,000-acre swath of industrial land – 7,000 of those acres are developable with close proximity to railways, interstates, airports and an available workforce. Apex broke ground in 1989 and had a rocky road to success before North Las Vegas economic leaders made the city one of the new frontiers for industrial development.
“In 2001 it was turned over to private hands and primarily sat vacant [until development began],” said Dave Brown, president, Land Development and Associates (LDA). LDA develops raw industrial land; Apex is one of their North Las Vegas projects.
In order to overcome 30 years of hurdles to development, the City of North Las Vegas began running water and sewer lines to Apex in 2017, transforming the park from dirt into valuable real estate. When the utilities began going in, interest in the property exploded.
VanTrust recently purchased about 350 acres at the southern edge of Apex, one of the largest land deals by a private developer in the region in recent years. The company purchased the property for $44.75 million and plans to build a 4.5 million-square-foot industrial park.
“Today we’ve sold over 1,000 acres to [global companies] like Ball Corporation, Kroger and also Van Trust, [who have] invested heavily in Apex,” said Brown.
Apex Industrial Park is between 15 and 20 percent complete. Development is following the water and sewer lines being run throughout Apex from the city. Currently, five more industrial parks within Apex are in progress, utilizing the new infrastructure.
Opportunity Zones
At the start of the pandemic, development in North Las Vegas slowed, as it did elsewhere. In the 18 months since, there’s been tremendous activity in the city’s Opportunity Zones.
Opportunity Zones were created by the federal government as a development tool to allow companies to invest in economically distressed areas to spur growth and job creation. Investing and developing in Opportunity Zones provides tax breaks to companies and individuals.
North Las Vegas has five Opportunity Zones: two located south of Cheyenne Avenue and three located within the downtown core. All five have land poised for development.
“We’re working on multiple Opportunity Zone projects right now, including one at Carey Avenue and Revere Street,” said Lefton. “We successfully placed our first Opportunity Zone fund of $45 million earlier this year, and we are working on placing our second Opportunity Zone fund of $75 million by the middle of 2022.”
Downtown Revitalization
Mayor Lee’s promise that everyone would benefit from downtown revitalization is being kept. The focus is, not only new projects, but also on infill and redevelopment opportunities.
Many of the changes are in the planning stages. Lee anticipates the revitalized areas will explode with investment and opportunities over the next two to three years. Revitalization includes residential and commercial projects.
Education
Great schools make great communities, and education impacts the entire city and economy. Through LearnNLV, the City of North Las Vegas ensures that every student has access to high-quality education. LearnNLV is an innovative and comprehensive approach to supporting and growing schools of excellence throughout the City of North Las Vegas by partnering with existing schools, expanding quality education options and connecting with the community to ensure every child has access to schools that fit their needs.
“There’s definitely a need for school choice in the Las Vegas community,” said Eve Breier, principal, CIVICA Career and Collegiate Academy. “We built a school in the heart of the City of North Las Vegas to provide that choice for families.”
CIVICA opened in August 2021 with collaboration from the mayor’s office, police and fire departments. Currently serving grades K through 7, it plans to grow to K through 12. The career and technical education curriculum is starting with three programs: law enforcement, nursing and fire academy. Students can graduate directly into career paths, often with college credit from dual enrollment.
Cristo Rey St. Viator is a college prep Catholic learning community educating young people with limited economic means. The high school opened in the fall of 2019, combining rigorous academics with relevant work experience. Students are required to work one day a week at companies throughout the valley. The school receives payment for students’ services, which supports 60 percent of their education.
“We specifically chose this location when working with the City of North Las Vegas,” said Father Tom Von Behren, president of Cristo Rey St. Viator. The location allows the school to reach students of lower economic means.
Forty-eight public schools in North Las Vegas serve nearly 45,000 students. In addition, North Las Vegas is home to the North Las Vegas campus of the College of Southern Nevada, the nation’s fifth largest community college.
Recreation
In 2021, North Las Vegas was named one of “The 20 Most Livable Towns and Cities in America” by Outside Magazine. North Las Vegas boasts an extensive system of nearly three dozen parks, including the 170-acre Craig Ranch Regional Park. In addition, residents have access to 13 miles of trails, recreation centers, golf courses and the 6,800 seat Amp at Craig Ranch, the region’s premier outdoor entertainment venue.
“The Amp provides our community a central location to host big events,” said Lee.
Healthcare
At 1 million square feet, the North Las Vegas VA Medical Center is the largest new hospital in the VA system since the 1990s. Built in 2012, it serves approximately 70,000 veterans from Utah, Arizona and Nevada.
“The VA is the largest integrated healthcare system in the country, but you still can’t be all things to all veterans all the time,” said William Caron, medical director, VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System. “Your ability to collaborate and partner with your community – North Las Vegas, Las Vegas and outlying areas included – is critical to your ability to serve veterans. You would not have access to care in the absence of that collaboration.”
The North Las Vegas VA Medical Center is an economic partner in the city. It employs more than 3,000 staff members. The hospital’s annual operating budget is more than $800 million, a high percentage of that going to wages and salaries of employees who live, work, play and shop in North Las Vegas.
North Las Vegas is also working with developers who are looking to build a new hospital and medical campus on the 135- acre Job Creation Zone located next to the North Las Vegas VA Medical Center.
“In North Las Vegas, we’re very proud of our community,” said Mayor Lee. “We’re building a whole new community while we’re reviving the more established parts of our city. We’re a city of the 21st century. That didn’t happen by accident; it was growth, by design.”
