Silver Desert Estates, a planned 282-unit affordable senior apartment complex at the NWC of Hickam Avenue and Jordanville Street in Las Vegas, was recently approved by the Las Vegas City Council.
The apartment complex is to be constructed on 15 acres of federally owned land in the Lone Mountain West Master Development Plan. According to the site plan, Silver Desert Estates Limited Partnership is the project owner, while Palindrome Properties Group, LLC is the developer.
SERA Design and Architecture, Inc. is the design firm, with Lage Design, Inc. serving as the landscape architect. The project is represented by Kaempfer Crowell. Civil 360 LLC is the civil engineer, and Pacificap Construction, LLC is the general contractor.
Immediately east of the site is the 215 Beltway. Two existing multifamily developments sit south of the site on Alexander Road. The north and west feature single-family residential developments, according to the justification letter.
The 282 units will be spread throughout seven separate buildings. In total, there will be 193 one-bedroom and 89 two-bedroom units.
The apartment complex will feature some units priced at 60% of the Area Median Income, while others will be priced at 80%.
According to the site plan, Building A will be 22.3KSF; Building B will be 27.6KSF; Building C will be 27.7KSF; Building D1 will be 15.4KSF; Building D2 will be 19.4KSF; Building E will be 57.6KSF, and Building F will be 47KSF. In total, this accounts for around 217KSF of building space.
The site is bisected by a central wash. The southern portion will contain four multifamily buildings, the leasing office and a wellness center. The northern half will feature the remaining multifamily buildings, a pool and multiple gathering areas. Other planned amenities include a dog run, computer room and supportive services area.
Buildings will range from two to three stories tall. In terms of height, the shortest buildings will be slightly more than 28 feet, while the largest buildings will be nearly 41 feet tall.
The buildings are laid out so that the two-story buildings are to face the single-family developments to the north and west. The three-story buildings, on the other hand, are to be located on the south and east toward the highway and the existing multifamily developments.
The buildings are described as having stucco trims, concrete roof tiles, popouts and varying rooflines.
A controlled access gate will be installed at the main entrance off Hickam Avenue. This will lead to a drive aisle that surrounds the perimeter of the site.
Public-Private Partnership
The City of Las Vegas put a reservation on the site to encourage an affordable housing development. In January of 2024, the City released a Request for Proposal regarding the development of an all-senior apartment complex. The winning response was selected in April 2024.
Zoning, Concerns and Other Issues
Some residents had concerns surrounding traffic, but the justification letter asserts senior-focused developments typically do not have large traffic impacts.
The land originally carried a Public Facility land use designation, which was later altered to Multi-Family Medium. Zoning was changed from Undeveloped, Planned Community Development to Planned Development.
The overall site has a large variation in topography because it lies on a slope. To address this, the applicants requested increasing the height of walls surrounding the apartment complex. Typically, the maximum wall height is 10 feet.
The northern wall is to be 21 feet; the western wall is to be 20 feet, and the southern wall will be 8.5 feet.
The City of Las Vegasis currently working with the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Bureau of Land Management to allow the project to break ground by the end of the year.