Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

EDITORIAL:

Apartments on site of old Showboat are a win for Las Vegas community

Showboat Park Apartments

Wade Vandervort

A soccer field at Showboat Park Apartments, Wednesday, March 10, 2021.

Showboat Park Apartments Grand Opening

A two-bedroom model at Showboat Park Apartments, Wednesday, March 10, 2021. Launch slideshow »

The power of innovative thinking and community-mindedness was on display Wednesday in a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Showboat Park Apartments.

Located on the old Showboat resort grounds in central Las Vegas, the 344-unit complex is a noteworthy achievement in urban redevelopment — a stylish and well-appointed set of apartments on a property that for years had been a trash-strewn vacant lot.

This is a part of town, well east of the East Fremont hub of development, where you don’t particularly expect to see major new residential construction like this, especially a complex with many of the same features as those being built on the edges of Las Vegas. Showboat Park features a resort-style pool, a grass four-on-four soccer field, a fitness room, a clubhouse complete with conference center and kitchen, and more.

It’s the product of an inspired vision by its developer, Amador “Chi Chi” Bengochea, who saw the property not as a hopeless case but as a combination of a good business opportunity and a way to address a shortage of high-quality housing for working families in the area. Bengochea, who grew up in Las Vegas and whose father dealt blackjack at the Showboat, also was attracted by the chance to preserve and honor a part of the community’s heritage, as the old resort was a go-to for residents in the central and eastern portions of the valley.

Making the project pencil out financially wasn’t easy. Going in, Bengochea knew he couldn’t swing it unless he built it with his own company, Bentar Development, and could negotiate with local governmental organizations for breaks on utility fees.

But he got the land for a fair price from Station Casinos, and was able to obtain utility service to the site at a reasonable cost. For instance, he said, the Southern Nevada Water Authority gave him offsets on its fees based on differences in water usage between Showboat Park and the old resort, which used a great deal of water between its 450-room hotel tower, 75,000 feet of casino space, 8,300 square feet of meeting rooms, a bingo room with capacity for 1,300 guests, and other features.

Where utility fees for new construction might be upward of $7,000 per unit for construction elsewhere, Bengochea said, local authorities worked cooperatively with him to bring his fees to a fraction of that amount.

“They were fair to me, because they understood what I was trying to do,” he said.

Bengochea said the savings allowed him to build in the complex’s amenities while keeping the rents at a moderate level. Prices start at $978 for studios and top out at less than $1,500 for a three-bedroom unit.

As Bengochea readily acknowledges, Showboat Park wasn’t designed as a solution for the community’s lack of Section 8-type affordable housing — the new complex’s price points are above that level. Now, the question is whether the rents will be within the grasp of working families in the area, where income levels are among the lowest in the valley.

Bengochea is banking that blue-collar families will find the rents affordable and will see the value in the gated complex’s design and amenities, which in addition to the soccer field, pool, etc., include a full-sized washer and dryer and high-speed internet Wi-Fi access in every apartment. Elsewhere on the 25-acre grounds, construction has begun on commercial buildings that will house restaurants, a grocery store, a car wash and more.

Bengochea, whose family came to the U.S. from Cuba, said the idea was to establish a community, not simply provide basic housing. And that’s not promotional blather — he aptly notes that he could have built several more units on the property at the expense of the soccer field, etc., and cut corners on the units themselves to maximize the return on his investment if that had been the sole purpose of the project.

“It’s a sacrifice, but the idea is that if you can create that sense of community and that sense of safety, we can set ourselves apart,” he said during an interview with the Sun.

Bengochea said the complex had already drawn about 60 tenants since leasing began in January, a promising start. It’s certainly a welcome transformation of the old Showboat lot, as well as a tribute to the old resort. Reportedly, Showboat Park is the first new multifamily-living complex built in the area in more than a decade — this despite the area being one of the densest parts of the valley, population-wise.

“Our families are ready for something like this,” said Las Vegas City Councilwoman Olivia Diaz, whose district includes the site, at Wednesday’s ceremony.

With its grand opening, Showboat Park joins several other urban redevelopment projects in the city’s core that offer hope of a brighter future in areas that have long been neglected. Innovative thinkers like Bengochea and J Dapper, with his renovation projects in the Huntridge Mall area, are showing their fellow developers that investing in the central valley can yield both financial and social benefits.

We commend them. And if they inspire others to follow their lead, even better.