Development:

Goodbye, promenade: Work begins to transform the District’s walking plaza into a road

The District at Green Valley Ranch was transformed into a spooky scene on Halloween night Monday, Oct. 31, 2011.

So long to the promenade.

Work crews are getting ready to replace the District at Green Valley Ranch’s main pedestrian pathway with a two-way street. Fences were put up around the promenade this week, gobbling up large portions of the mixed-use center’s main corridor.

Work will pick up in the coming weeks. All of the stores will remain open during construction, which is expected to finish by October, said Jeff Axtell, vice president of acquisitions and development for owner Vestar Development.

“We’re right on schedule,” he said.

Vestar, based in Phoenix, received Henderson City Council approval in February to let vehicular traffic cut through the District on a newly built road. Plans call for 21 parking spots on the north side of the street and another 25 spots on the south, as well as several crosswalks.

The District already is surrounded by hundreds of parking spots, but Axtell and some store owners believe the new street will bring shoppers even closer to the retail corridor, allowing for more commerce.

Local residents have complained about the plan, saying a roadway would cause safety hazards and rid the District of one of its main attractions.

The District includes retail, office and residential space and was built in two phases on both sides of Green Valley Parkway, just south of the 215 Beltway. The 16-acre east side, which has a Whole Foods Market and other tenants, already offers vehicular access throughout the plaza. The new road is planned for the 21.5-acre western portion.

The prospect of seeing cars drive through isn’t new. When the western portion opened in 2004, a roadway bisected it in the same place where the new street is slated to be built. In 2005, then-owner American Nevada Company replaced the road with a pedestrian mall.

Vestar, through a joint-venture with investment firm Rockwood Capital, bought the District for $79 million cash from lenders that had foreclosed on the project in 2011. The Greenspun family, owner of VEGAS INC and the Las Vegas Sun, developed the District through American Nevada.

Tags: News , Business
Business

Share