LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – A planned affordable housing project that’s set to break ground in 2024 will have retail, office space and “maker space” in a concept called a “Mixed-Use Microbusiness Park.”
The project will break ground off Lake Mead Blvd. west of I-15, next door to the Las Vegas Culinary Academy and workforce development non-profit Nevada Partners. There are hopes to partner with those institutions to help residents, local businesses, entrepreneurs and artisans.
76 units will offer studios and one to three bedroom spaces. Clark County residents who make 80% or below the area median income (earning $48,550 or less as a single individual) will qualify for rent. HUD updates the income classification for “low income” (80% or less) “very low income (50% or $30,350 or less as a single individual) and “extremely low income” ($18,200 as a single individual) for Clark County residents.
18,900 square space will be available for retail at the bottom, and office space on the second floor.
The project will cost $35 to $40 million as a mix of Clark County funds and COVID-19 relief funds from the American Rescue Plan Act.
“We noticed that there was a housing affordability crisis going on within the County. And we also knew that this is an area that needed an increase of affordable workforce housing, high quality of workforce housing. We thought, what better way to build and pour into the community than by combining opportunities for residential, workforce, affordable housing, as well as providing office or retail spaces for the entrepreneurs to develop their businesses,” said Commissioner William McCurdy II of District D of the Clark County Commission.
“It’s similar to watch what you might see in Downtown Las Vegas, but instead, you’re going to see that right here, beyond the neon of Downtown, right here on the West Side,” McCurdy said.
McCurdy said the goal is to help entrepreneurs and aspiring business owners learn their craft and launch their own business.
“When you go into business, some of the initial barriers are actually being able to find a space that you can afford to rent. What we are wanting to do here is identify certain industries. If you want to be a barista or you would like to offer a retail product, you will be able to come on this site, do business with us, the County, and learn more about how to do business and grow their business,” he said.
“The goal is to get them to a place of self sufficiency within their businesses, and also help them to have that pipeline to their own brick and mortar at some point,” he said.
The project is set to break ground in 2024 and will be completed by 2026.
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