First luxury home being built in Henderson mountains

The lots at Ascaya are ready for mountain-mansion development, with reservations now being accepted to begin the purchasing process, on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2014, in Henderson.

Ascaya, the long-delayed luxury-home community blasted out of the Henderson mountains, is getting its first house.

A groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled Tuesday to celebrate construction of the first home at the 313-lot development off Horizon Ridge and Green Valley parkways, almost 1,000 feet above the valley floor.

Ascaya clubhouse

Developers of luxury community Ascaya unveiled plans Tuesday, April 7, 2015, for a $25 million, 22,000-square-foot clubhouse. Construction is expected to begin by year’s end. Launch slideshow »

The 11,000-square-foot mansion will have six bedrooms, eight bathrooms, a basement and an outdoor courtyard, according to a news release, which did not say when construction was slated to finish.

Hong Kong tycoon Henry Cheng built the project site during the boom years last decade but pulled the plug during the recession. He left behind dozens of empty, tiered pads carved into the McCullough Range.

After not touching the site for years, his group reopened the project last August. At the time, his sales team said they hoped to sell all the lots in five to seven years and to have the project fully developed in about a decade.

Building at Ascaya Resumes in Henderson

Plans for luxury homes in the Ascaya mountainside community in Henderson are back on track on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2014. Launch slideshow »

But by early to mid-June, buyers had picked up only three lots — and at falling prices.

The first parcel, 0.46 acre, sold in October for $925,000; the second, 0.73 acre, went in December for $915,000; and the third, 0.49 acre, sold last month for $865,000, Clark County records show. All buyers were local residents.

Ascaya sales manager Darin Marques said last month that his group initially was “a little frustrated” by the small number of deals. But with each sale, he said, interest from prospective buyers has picked up.

Also, he said, he searched Southern Nevada sales records and found only about 30 homes sold last year for between $3 million and $5 million each, roughly the price it would take to own a house in Ascaya. It’s a small pool of potential buyers for his community, he said, and his research “shows we are on a good pace.”

Share