Las Vegas Is Emerging as an ‘Established Municipality’
The Las Vegas market has seen more than $5 billion in new construction and development activity, and a new city is emerging as a result.
“Las Vegas is becoming less of a transient city and more of an established municipality,” Mark Mikelson, owner, principal and Las Vegas retail studio director at Nadel Architects, tells GlobeSt.com. “To transition this new energy and capture more residents, we are seeing a variety of civic and municipal projects to include the Arts District, the Las Vegas Convention expansion, the new T-Mobile Arena—home of the Vegas Knights—and a future NFL Stadium. These projects are creating a new dynamic for the local community and also helping to shape Las Vegas’ national presence.”
The growth is dynamic and is touching all assets classes, from hospitality investment on the strip, which has always been a destination for capital, as well as in the surrounding more suburban markets. “I think the whole valley is in expansion and growth mode,” says Mikelson. “The “Strip” will always be reinventing itself and expanding to meet tourist’s needs, but with new projects coming online, we are seeing lots of growth in the suburban markets to support all the civic/municipal growth. These range from large multifamily projects, commercial retail centers, as well as schools and community support projects.”
Sports teams and the stadium developments that support them have been integral to this growth. “The influence of Vegas has always been gaming and entertainment, but now we have a great mix of sports teams: hockey team Vegas Knights, soccer team Vegas Lights FC, minor league baseball team Area 51’s and the future Oakland Raiders,” adds Mikelson. “This helps build “city spirit” but also attracts the fans from the visiting teams, which require places to stay, to eat, and to spend merchandise money.”
Now, capital has been focused on residential and multifamily investment to support the population growth. “I think the multifamily projects will start to fade off and shift towards affordable single-family housing,” says Mikelson. “The commercial, business, and retail centers will see a continued growth to support the billions of dollars being spent on the strip and in the downtown areas.”