Mixed-use zone request dropped after neighborhood opposition

Developers have withdrawn a zone change application that would have converted an unfinished loft home development into a mixed-use project with hotel and timeshare uses.

Work on Vantage Lofts, a Slade Development project in Henderson on the southwest corner of Paseo Verde Parkway and Gibson Road, was suspended in March with two of the project's four buildings 80 percent complete and work started on a third.

Developers said the struggling housing market slowed advance sales of the units to a point that they didn't have enough income to complete the buildings.

Slade Development filed for bankruptcy protection in June. Company representatives said the mixed-use zone change application would make the project more viable in the current market and allow them to secure funding to complete it.

Slade Development Principal Justin Slade said the company is evaluating other uses for the project as it goes through bankruptcy reorganization, but is not ruling out the mixed-use proposal.

"We're working on our restructure plan, and one option of that plan was to do the timeshare and hotel repositioning," he said. "It's still something we're considering, but we decided to table it for now."

When the plan went before the Henderson Planning Commission in July, a handful of residents from neighboring communities expressed concern about the proposal, saying a hotel would not fit in with the surrounding community and wondering how well the project would be maintained with no primary owners.

The Planning Commission voted to put off the request so that Slade could hold a public meeting with neighbors. The feedback from neighbors at the meeting is part of the reason that the company decided to table the request, Slade said. Developers are working with residents to address those concerns, he said.

"The neighbors prefer that it remain condos," Slade said. "That's what we prefer as well, but right now, the market just isn't there."

Berle Berson, president of the Champion Village Homeowners Association, was one of the residents who attended the public hearing in July and requested additional information about the zone change proposal. After meeting with Slade and hearing about the withdrawn application, Berson said residents are taking a "wait-and-see approach."

"I don't think there's much we can do to change anything," he said. "The buildings are already there and, unless you tear them down, they're going to be used for something."

Aside from the mixed-use approach and leaving the project as condos, Slade said, the company will also look at converting it into apartments. Any plan would have to be approved by a bankruptcy judge, lenders and, if different than the condominium development that has been approved, the Henderson Planning Commission and City Council.

Slade said he hopes to have the bankruptcy reorganization plan approved within 60 days. He said he is confident that Vantage Lofts can be made viable again.

"I think even given the state of the market, we feel we can put together a successful restructure plan in bankruptcy," Slade said. "That's what we're working on. The trick is weathering the storm."

Jeremy Twitchell can be reached at 990-8928 or [email protected].