Tuesday, July 15, 2008 | 2 a.m.
The parking lot of the vacant Roadhouse Casino at Boulder Highway and Sunset Road in Henderson doesn’t seem like a great place for a tourist attraction.
The casino closed several years ago and the corner features another casino that recently burned. It’s not exactly busy with foot traffic.
Nevertheless, AeroBalloon of Las Vegas has plans to put a tethered balloon ride at the spot. All it needs is Henderson’s approval.
The company — which has branches in Boston, New York and Chicago — wants to expand into the local market with its helium balloons, which can take a group of five people 200 feet in the air.
First, though, the company has to make the neighbors happy.
The Planning Commission asked the operators to meet with residents after one expressed concerns about noise and light — supposedly the balloon can be illuminated to look like a full moon.
“I’m concerned with the brightness and where it’s going to be,” said Robert Piantosi, who lives across the street. “We didn’t know what it was going to be.”
Piantosi and his neighbors can meet with the balloon people at the site July 16. He said he’s already feeling better about the project after being assured it would be a safe distance from his house.
But he pointed out there might not be much to see from a balloon in the area.
“What’s the view?” he asked. “The quarry? The water treatment plant?”
Good question. Calls to AeroBalloon’s corporate office were not returned. The Planning Commission is to consider the issue next month.
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Slade Development, the company that began building the innovative Vantage Lofts condominiums before filing for bankruptcy protection, has new plans for the half-finished project on Gibson Road.
Slade has proposed a zoning change to convert the space into a time-share project.
It would be completed in 12 to 18 months, according to an application filed with Henderson. Plans call for 80 condominium units and 70 time-share-owned units at Gibson and Paseo Verde Parkway, as well as a 3,000-square-foot restaurant and a 4,000-square-foot spa.
Room rates for the time shares would range from $300 to $800 a night.
City staff is recommending denial, saying the plan does not fit in with the neighborhood of single-family homes.
The application was filed by Justin Slade, a son of Slade founder Stacy Slade. The Slades had huge plans for lofts with modernist architecture and impressive views of the Strip, bringing a touch of urban living to the valley suburbs. But as the market slumped, the $160 million project crashed.
It was scheduled to open in 2007. Today the first phase sits boarded up. In bankruptcy court paperwork the company said it has assets of $45 million, but owes $72 million.
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The U.S. Census Bureau has released the latest growth figures for the nation’s fastest-growing cities.
North Las Vegas has continued its reign near the top. It has also become one of the 100 most populated cities in the country.
During fiscal 2007, North Las Vegas had a 7.4 percent growth rate, gaining 14,541 residents and making it the fourth-fastest-growing city in the country. As of July 1, 2007, it had 212,114 residents. The three cities with higher growth rates in that period were New Orleans, experiencing a resurgence following Hurricane Katrina; Victorville, Calif.; and McKinney, Texas, a Dallas suburb.
Henderson ranked 17th on the fastest-growing list in 2007 with a 3.7 percent growth rate, gaining 8,870 residents to bring its population to 249,386.
North Las Vegas was also the second-fastest-growing city in the nation from 2000 to 2007. Its population jumped 83.6 percent. Only New York City grew more in the past seven years.
Henderson has grown by 42.2 percent since 2000.
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