Building Nevada Briefs - December 2002

Building Nevada Briefs

Design Awards Announced

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) recently announced the winners in the 2002 Nevada State Design & Service Awards, recognizing excellence in design, as well as success in meeting individual project requirements.

Proposed Tahoe Truckee Airport, Sheehan VanWoert Bigotti Architects/JLS Design

Prototype 2000 Senior High School, Tate Snyder Kimsey Architects

Café de Thai, Hawkins and Associates

UNLV Entrance, Chase Kerston

UNLV Student Housing, Bradley Leimbach

UNLV Housing Master Plan, Dekker/Perich/Holmes/Sabatini

Trespa North America, Tate Snyder Kimsey Architects

A number of other awards were presented, including the 2002 Nevada State Distinguished Service Awards. Bradley D. Schulz, AIA, of KGA Architecture was given a silver medal in recognition of his distinguished service to the profession of architecture. Lucchesi Galati Architects was awarded the AIA Nevada Architecture Firm Award, the highest honor awarded by the state AIA.

Molasky Group Sells Holdings

The Molasky Group of Companies has sold five major Southern Nevada real estate properties in transactions totaling nearly $150 million. Irwin Molasky, who has developed properties in Southern Nevada and California for more than 50 years, said his family-owned firm will use the proceeds from these sales to reinvest in the Las Vegas market. Best on the Boulevard, a 200,000-square-foot power center, was sold to Trammell Crow for $30 million. Damavandi Capital LLC of Los Angeles purchased the recently re-developed Park Place neighborhood center for $12 million. SunMark Plaza, a 427,936-square-foot power center in Henderson, was sold to Orangefair Company LLC for $46 million in the largest Nevada retail property sale outside of a regional mall. The Molasky Group also sold the 472-unit Savannah Apartments and Bank of America West, an eight-story, Class A office building near the intersection of US 95 and Rainbow Boulevard.

Nevada Contractors Name Honorees

The Nevada Contractors Association named the recipients of its 2002 Contractor of the Year awards at a ceremony on December 3. Honorees included: Contractor of the Year - Kitchell Contractors; Subcontractor of the Year - Southern Nevada Paving; Building Project of the Year - Green Valley Ranch Station (Perini Building Company); Heavy/Highway/Civil Project - $36 million I-15/Charleston Flood Control Project (Las Vegas Paving); Safest Contractor – M.J. Dean Construction Company; Associate of the Year – Wells Capital Management.

Focus Group Buys BLM Land

Focus Property Group was the successful bidder for 992.5 acres of land at an auction held in November by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The land in the southwest Las Vegas Valley is earmarked for development as part of a 3,000-acre master-planned community called Mountain’s Edge. Focus Property Group paid $159.1 million for the three parcels, an average of over $160,000 an acre. Mountain’s Edge, to be located at Rainbow Boulevard and Blue Diamond Road, will include residential neighborhoods, retail centers, recreational facilities, public facilities, schools and open spaces. The developer plans to sell the residential land to home builders and retain the larger commercial sites. The BLM has held 11 auctions since the passage of the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act in 1998, which authorized the BLM to sell public land in Southern Nevada, with the proceeds being divided between the state’s General Education Fund (5 percent), the Southern Nevada Water Authority (10 percent), and a special account reserved for the purchase of environmentally sensitive land in Nevada and for developing and improving Nevada’s public lands.