On July 17, the Las Vegas City Council approved a landmark redevelopment plan for the Desert Pines Golf Course, setting in motion the largest affordable housing project in Nevada’s history. The nearly 30-year-old golf course, located in east Las Vegas, will be converted into a 17-parcel mixed-use subdivision designed to serve a diverse range of residents.
The Council’s approval included a disposition and development agreement with McCormack Baron Salazar, as well as key land use entitlements to advance the transformation. The project is designed to create a community-driven, mixed-income neighborhood that will include affordable and market-rate housing, retail and commercial spaces, educational facilities, and open green areas.
Governor Joe Lombardo expressed support for the development in a November statement, emphasizing its scale and impact: “Nevadans deserve ample access to affordable and attainable housing options, and I’m proud to support the largest affordable housing project in Nevada history through the State Infrastructure Bank. Through projects like this, we’re helping secure the next generation of Nevada homeownership.”
Long-term thinking structured the way the property was developed, including the allocation of portions of the property for future market-rate housing. This market-rate housing ultimately converts to cash sales that are to be reinvested in the affordable housing project. “The project was specifically structured that way so that in the future, the parcels that are planned to be for-sale market rate housing and sold off to home builders, there will be proceeds generated from those sales, which will be routed back into the affordable housing development at Desert Pines,” said Scott Babsky of the Nevada Housing Division.
Daniel Falcon, a consultant with the developer McCormack Baron Salazar, indicated how collaborative this effort was in nature. “This process started with the community and what they wanted,” he said. “It’s all designed around and in alignment with them.” The Desert Pines redevelopment is an important step to begin tackling Nevada’s housing crisis and reinvesting in a significant area of Las Vegas through equitable, community-centric development.
