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Within less than a year this native
desert site was covered with businesses and new homes for sale in The Vista Village of
Summerlin. The Vistas are close to the mountains of the Red
Rock National Recreation Area and much cooler than other parts of the
Las Vegas Valley. Here's the low-down on vacant land and small lots in Las Vegas. About 90% of the state of Nevada is owned by the federal government. When you gaze around Las Vegas and see seemingly endless miles of vacant land, what you're looking at is land owned by one federal agency or the other. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is the largest landholder here and their holdings virtually encircle the Las Vegas Valley. The Air Force, however, owns a big chunk of property at and surrounding Nellis Air Force Base in the northeastern and northern part of the Valley. Land that is privately held and available for development into home sites and commercial areas is actually limited and at a premium. The BLM began to auction of land in the Valley and the prices have skyrocketed. In November 2002 at the time of the first auction, the average price per acre was about $160,000. In June 2003, the average price per acre was over $230,000. And at each subsequent auction the prices have risen and they are still climbing. Within the Las Vegas Valley and down through Boulder City, most of the land is privately held. And all of this land is under Master Plans developed by local governments. These master plans designate certain area for certain types of development. For example, some are zoned as commercial sites, others zoned for single family homes, other for multi-family condo/townhomes/apartments, and still others for homes where people can keep horses on their own properties. Since the real available land for development is scarce, builders divide up their communities into quite small lots. A third-acre or half-acre lot is considered "large" in Las Vegas. Most lots are smaller. And if you're having to landscape and maintain a third or a half acre here with rocky desert soil and summertime desert heat, you'll realize that "smaller is better" -- if only because it reduces the water bill! And who wants to mow a half-acre of grass when the temperature is 105 degrees!?!
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