Master planned communities, frequently referred to as MPCs, have been popular since the 1960s, but they are constantly evolving to meet changing market conditions and homebuyer preferences. More than just a collection of neighborhoods, larger MPCs can have all the amenities of a small, self-contained town, often including parks, restaurants and shops, and even schools and fire stations.
Creating and adhering to a comprehensive master plan is key to the success of any MPC. “The sole job of the master developer is to take an overall approach and put together the community as a whole,” said Lee Farris, President and CEO of The LandWell Company, which is developing Cadence in Henderson. “If you assembled the 10 greatest artists in the world and asked each of them to paint one tenth of a picture without any overall direction, the result wouldn’t be very good. However, if you asked just one great artist to create a painting, it would probably be a masterpiece.”
Michael Barnes, General Manager and Partner of StoneGate Development, noted, “The goal is to create a community where, from the moment you enter, you have a sense of place. We go to great pains to establish standards, making sure there’s a thematic plan that includes landscaping, signage, and colors. It’s not just a collection of neighborhoods. It’s putting these neighborhoods together into a community.” StoneGate Development purchased approximately 1,800 acres of the historic Heinz Ranch and is developing the community of StoneGate Reno.
Once an MPC is established, developers look for ways to help residents connect with each other to form bonds that foster community spirit. “In a small neighborhood, you probably won’t find enough people to get together for a specific activity like yoga or wine tasting,” noted Patrick Parker, President of Raintree Investment Corporation. “But, in a master planned community, you can put the word out on social media and soon you’ll have enough people to have an event or a club. It must be big enough that there are multiple people to connect with. We provide the place where they can meet and find things they like to do in common.” Raintree, the master developer for 3,800-acre Lake Las Vegas in Henderson, has developed master plans in several western states.
Home builders are often attracted to MPCs because of the advantages they offer. Chris Beucler, Chief Expansion Officer for Blue Heron, said, “An MPC can provide a high level of amenities, which makes it attractive for homebuyers. And, when it comes time to sell homes, having multiple builders within a master plan brings in more prospective homebuyers to tour the community, which can save on marketing dollars for the builder.” Blue Heron, which has been building homes in southern Nevada for 20 years, has built custom and semi-custom homes in several MPCs in southern Nevada, including Ascaya and Southern Highlands. It is now building four communities within Lake Las Vegas. Beucler said the company is going through the entitlement process to develop its own master planned community in the near future.
Thinking Long-Term
It generally takes about 20 years to build out a master plan, according to Parker: two or three years planning and getting entitlements, another two or three years putting in roads and infrastructure, and the rest actually building structures. For example, Toll Brothers is developing a new MPC in northwest Reno called Quilici. It purchased the land in 2021 and then started grading, bringing in sewer and water lines, paving roads, and designing the communities within the MPC. It won’t actually open until late summer of 2025.
The largest master planned community in Nevada is Summerlin, which spans 22,500 acres, or about 36 square miles, on the western end of the Las Vegas Valley. Because of its immense size, Howard Hughes, developer of the project, estimates it will take 50 years to complete the project, which first broke ground in 1990. It is currently home to approximately 127,000 residents, with total population estimated at 200,000 once Summerlin is built out, according to Danielle Bisterfeldt, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Consumer Experience for Summerlin, Howard Hughes.
“An MPC must be comprehensively planned to ensure cohesiveness across multiple years of development,” said Donna O’Connell, Toll Brothers Division President for Northern Nevada. “You need to make sure when you’re planning an MPC that, as you move through the various phases, it’s all cohesive and ties together. Developing an MPC can present challenges. You have to conduct research and do extensive planning. An extraordinary amount of infrastructure has to be brought in to support the MPC. All these costs are incurred prior to selling the first home.” Toll Brothers has been developing and building master planned communities across the US since 1975. In most of their northern Nevada projects, they are both the developer of the project and also the sole builder. In southern Nevada, Toll Brothers has several projects within MPCs created by other developers, including Summerlin, Cadence, Inspirada and others.
Farris said LandWell first entitled Cadence in 2007, but because of the recession, their plans were put on hold, and it was re-entitled in 2011 with a lower unit count. They started construction in 2012 and closed the first home in Cadence in 2014. “We built flexibility into the plans we submitted to the city,” said Farris. “Homebuyers’ preferences change, builders change, architectural trends change over time. You have to pivot to where you think folks will want to go in 18 months’ time.”
Difficulties in making a project pencil can cause developers to change their original plans, as Barnes experienced with the StoneGate project. “Our PUD (Planned Unit Development) for StoneGate was approved by the City of Reno in 2018,” he shared. “In 2021 we were ready to break ground and went out to bid and then…prices came in at 40 percent over our budget. We also encountered supply chain issues, which are still relevant to this day. We’ve had to pivot.”
The original plan for the Heinz Ranch property included 5,000 residential units and a small industrial piece. “Residential can no longer afford to pay for those infrastructure costs,” said Barnes. “For the first time in more than 40 years, industrial now pays more for land than residential, so we’re going to develop the industrial parcel first. Our new plans include 1,350 residential units, 11.5 million square feet of industrial, and 70 acres of commercial.” Several partners have joined together to develop StoneGate, including one company that specializes in advanced manufacturing, data centers and distribution centers. They are now going before the city for rezoning and expect full entitlements in early 2025. “It takes copious amounts of capital,” said Barnes, adding, “Development is not for the faint of heart.”
Current trends in MPCs
Whether a master planned community includes just three neighborhoods or 36 square miles, the developer must follow trends to make sure they provide the housing choices and amenities demanded by prospective buyers. Bisterfeldt said, “Perhaps the biggest changes for Summerlin include an ongoing evolution of the types of homes residents are seeking. While single-family homes of all sizes are still the norm, we are also building more multifamily options for those who prefer to rent and who seek a low maintenance, lock-and-leave lifestyle.”
Master planned communities in the past were designed for single-family homes sold by the builders within the MPC. However, one recent trend is offering new types of rental properties within the MCP. Barnes said StoneGate Reno will offer build-to-rent, single-family homes. “We want to integrate them into the community,” he said. “I think that’s going to be a new phenomenon among MPCs – integrating rental products within the larger community instead of isolating them.” Parker said Lake Las Vegas also offers rental communities along with single-family homes for sale.
Another trend is neighborhoods within MPCs that are designed for active adults 55-plus. “MPCs are great for multiple generations that want to live close together,” said O’Connell. “There is a trend of grandparents following their adult children into an MPC so they can live closer to their grandchildren.” Toll Brothers established its Regency (active adult) division almost 50 years ago, but what people expected from a 55-plus community has changed over the years, according to O’Connell. “Expectations of luxury are high,” she said. “Social connectivity is different. Instead of organized potlucks or bingo nights, people want connectivity to happen organically. In our Regency communities in northern Nevada, neighbors may do wine walks or have whiskey making clubs. It’s a fun way to live with people who are like-minded and want to be socially active.”
Today’s homebuyers are also looking for more open spaces within a master planned community. “The pandemic created a big shift,” said Farris. “Post-pandemic, open spaces became an important focal point, and not just open spaces, but also amenities within those spaces. Not just a park, but what’s in the park. People also want more outside space at home – not just a back yard, but a covered patio or porch so they can have some shade while enjoying the yard.”
As the average lot size has gone down in recent years, people are more likely to look outside their yard for places to play, walk the dog, or enjoy other outdoor activities. “Younger homebuyers often want less maintenance (no or small yards) but access to an abundance of nearby outdoor amenities for recreation, fitness, and enjoyment,” said Bisterfeldt. “There is a growing emphasis on ‘natural’ trailways and open spaces that have a greater connection to nature.”
Walking paths, trails through natural areas, and bike paths are all popular features of today’s MPCs. Farris noted that there’s also more demand for walkability. People want to be able to walk or ride a bike to parks, restaurants and other amenities in the community.
What’s Ahead for Nevada’s Master Plans?
Despite its vast size, the state of Nevada is facing a shortage of developable land, since so much of the acreage that might be used for master planned communities is controlled by the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Metro areas in both Las Vegas and Reno are surrounded by federal property. Large master plans may need to be located in outlying areas, or future MPCs may be limited to small, in-fill projects.
In northern Nevada, O’Connell states developers may build infill projects in the near future, but there are no large swaths of land in core markets. “We’re running out of land in the core Reno market, but there are new opportunities in Carson City, Minden, and Gardnerville,” she said. “[Toll Brothers] is actively searching in those markets.”
“Nevada is starved for land,” declared Parker. “Outlying places like Mesquite may grow into bigger destinations as developers run out of close-in land.” He predicts that Nevada will also see more “mini-plans” that make adaptive use of existing locations. “Symphony Park in downtown Las Vegas shows that if there are things to do, people don’t mind the density,” he said. “We may also see older shopping malls converted into five- or six-story mixed-use projects. Water Street is a good example of redevelopment, and a multi-family project is being built there.”
Bisterfeldt said that, even though Summerlin still has 4,000 acres available for future development, “We recognize the importance of addressing the shrinking inventory of available land. We believe this critical topic requires collaboration among key stakeholders—legislators, policy makers, and community builders—coming together to find impactful solutions for this challenge.”
“We all hope we can find a way to make more land available for developers to build master plans,” said Farris. “Master plans are good for communities, so I hope the elected officials in Washington who control the BLM line will find a way to get it moved so that more MPCs can be built. Until that happens, it will be very difficult to assemble enough acreage to make it all work.”
