Dive Brief:
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Ongoing efforts to bring more housing to downtown Las Vegas continue, with the current set of projects on the boards or in the ground set to deliver more than 1,000 new residential units, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
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The projects offer a variety of housing options, including mixed-use and standalone projects with studios and multi-bedroom apartments as well as live-work units and condominiums.
- Meanwhile, the downtown vacancy rate is around 5% and the city hopes to deliver 5,500 units in the next 25 years. There were roughly 10,600 apartments in downtown Las Vegas as of 2015.
Dive Insight:
Away from the lights of the Las Vegas Strip, officials are attempting to breathe life back into the city’s historic downtown, which lacks a comprehensive rail-based transit system and competes with less-expensive properties in the suburbs.
The relocation of online shoe retailer Zappos to Las Vegas in 2013 brought population and economic activity that drove demand for housing and other amenities. And the Downtown Project, a $350 million renewal project funded by Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, has helped spur small business and real estate development there, particularly in the city’s Fremont East District.
Still, recovery in and around Las Vegas has ground to make up. Home values in the region took a hit during the recession, but recent reports show an upward trend driven by population growth and economic improvement, with prices rising 1.3% from December to January and 8.7% year-over-year.
Commercial construction in Las Vegas is also set to receive a shot in the arm following reports last month that a $1.4 billion expansion and renovation of the city’s convention center could kick off as soon as 2018.
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