Lake Las Vegas, which is unveiling its newest luxury development this weekend on The Island, posted its second best year in sales since the Great Recession.
The opening comes as the spotlight of the sports world will be on Lake Las Vegas in February ahead of the Super Bowl. The teams will each stay at the Westin Lake Las Vegas and Hilton Lake Las Vegas.
The master plan on the far east side of Henderson sold 302 new homes in 2023, a 42 percent increase over 212 in 2022, according to Las Vegas-based Home Builders Research. The high mark was 389 sales in 2021 coming out of the pandemic when people wanted new homes, expanded space and a change of cities in this work-from-home era.
Pulte Del Webb Lake Las Vegas, the age-restricted community, ranked second in the valley in 2023 with 148 sales of new homes, Home Builders Research reported.
There’s even been strong demand for existing single-family homes. There were 187 homes sold on the Multiple Listing Service in 2023, surpassing the 144 in 2022 and 163 in a strong market in 2021.
The average sales price was $933,000 for a single-family home. In addition, there were 18 town homes sold with an average price of $516,000, according to Realtor Gene Northrup with Las Vegas Sotheby’s International Realty.
“We’ve had our second best year ever and the sales are piling up on themselves,” said Pat Parker, president of Raintree Investment Corp., the developer of Lake Las Vegas. “We had one person who bought four custom lots and then bought a house at (our Shoreline project). If you get a customer who does that, you’re doing well. We’re strong from $8 million all the way to $500,000.”
Parker credits the maturity of Lake Las Vegas that was once marketed as a second-home community where people flew in to spend their weekends to becoming a place in the eastern outskirts of Henderson where people live full time in the 3,600-acre resort community with a 320-acre lake. There are two upscale hotels and restaurants and retail in its village.
“It’s really exploded over the last two years,” said Chris Beucler, president of Blue Heron Nexus, the company’s boutique communities division. “People have accepted that it’s no longer this outpost with all the improvements on Water Street in downtown Henderson and the way Cadence is getting built out with new shopping in the area. It’s in the best position it’s ever been in. I think Del Webb’s success story is off the charts with what they have accomplished out there, and we’re super excited to get a grand opening out at The Island that will be really successful for us.”
About one-third of Lake Las Vegas buyers are coming from California, one-third from Nevada and one-third from other states, Parker said.
“They like the serenity, the relaxation and walking trails,” Parker said. “People feel like it’s their own oasis.”
That’s quite a comeback.
There was no homebuilding taking place in 2014 following the recession and the community was the last of the Las Vegas master plans to recover. It has more than 3,000 homes, and will have between 5,000 and 6,000 homes at the build-out.
“I have always been a fan of Lake Las Vegas for the right buyer, and it’s good to see things are still going well,” said Home Builders Research President Andrew Smith. “I would think the developers would have to be very happy with where it is.”
Smith called it exciting to see the latest development, which includes luxury builder Blue Heron on the north side of the lake, building multimillion-dollar homes on the lakefront.
“I’m not sure what the future is for more moderate production homes,” Smith said. “Most of the activity right now and seems more high-end with Blue Heron and Toll Brothers.”
Kent Lay, division president of Taylor Morrison, said the builder opened two communities in 2023 — Marabello and Portofino — and will be opening Verona in the second quarter of 2024. There’s a lot of opportunity with Taylor Morrison holding 500 lots, he said.
“I think Lake Las Vegas is really starting to come into its own,” Lay said. “It’s starting to mature a little bit whereas before it was just something that was not fully ready for prime time. It’s a gorgeous community, and there’s nothing like it.”
Lay called Lake Las Vegas a diverse community where there are multimillion-dollar homes down to first move-up homes in the low $400,000s. Taylor Morrison’s two communities start at $550,000 and go to the upper $800,000s.
“It feels so nice out there with the lake, some of the mature landscaping and the golf course,” said Lay who added it’s only 20 minutes from Harry Reid International Airport. “It has so many neat characteristics and is so unique to Las Vegas that it can’t help but start exploding. I think more buyers are going to flock that way.”
Buyers are already finding the way to the latest luxury enclave in Lake Las Vegas called The Island — 60 acres surrounded by water.
Located on the North Shore of Lake Las Vegas north of the Westin Lake Las Vegas hotel, the luxury enclave accessible by a land bridge features luxury homes built by Blue Heron.
“2024 will be our great unveiling,” Parker said. “There will be trees, walking trails and a private beach and lake house with a private beach and a place to congregate for homeowners on The Island. We’re trying to do this with resort modern architecture and trees. This is a dark sky friendly community where the lights will make you feel like you are walking into a five-star resort.”
Blue Heron will build 37 homes with large lots in a community called Arvada. Homes that are single-story and two-story and range from 4,872 square feet to 7,749 square feet.
Velaris with its single-story and two-story homes has 41 home sites with sizes ranging from 2,870 square feet to 4,688 square feet.
The showhome for Arvada will be completed in February with a grand opening in March. It’s listed for sale at $7.2 million. The two-story home measures 7,749 square feet with a private dock.
Velaris’ grand opening is scheduled for Jan. 27 at its showhome that’s listed for $3.9 million, including furnishings. The two-story home measures 4,688 square feet.
“We’re really excited about it,” Beucler said of the showhome. “It has an island vibe to it. It feels like you plucked this beach house out of California and put it on The Island.”
Pricing for Velaris homes starts at $1.2 million with an average sales price of about $1.5 million. Half of the lots back up to the water. Sales for Velaris will kick off with the opening of the showhome.
Arvada homes start at $1.7 million and most homes will exceed $2 million. Blue Heron has sold eight of those homes in which every lot backs up to the water.
“We get a lot of buyers from California because they come out and miss the water,” Beucler said. “It’s one of the few places left where they can get a new home on the water.”
