Apartments coming to Las Vegas office complex destroyed in June fire

Several months after an office complex east of the Strip went up in flames, an apartment developer has closed its purchase of the site with plans for an upscale rental project.

The Calida Group acquired the now-flattened plot at 3900 Paradise Road and the still-standing retail buildings out front for $32.25 million, property records show.

The sale of the commercial center, called The Park at 3900, closed Nov. 22.

Calida and other developers have been flooding the valley with apartments in recent years, building mostly in the suburbs. The project on Paradise, however, is part of a small but growing tally of new rental complexes in Las Vegas’ core.

Plans to start in a year

Eric Cohen, co-founder of Calida, said his group plans to start building the five-story, 400-unit apartment complex a year from now and to start renovating the adjacent retail space in 10 to 12 months.

Clark County commissioners approved project plans Nov. 20, after a neighbor appealed the county Planning Commission’s Oct. 15 approval over concerns of a proposed 10-foot-high wall between the project site and the adjacent residential area to the east.

Cohen – whose group agreed to have a six-foot-high wall, as allowed under code – noted the property is in a tax-incentive Opportunity Zone and said the restaurant-heavy retail space has good visibility and is close to the Strip.

Crime issues in area

The property is bordered to the east by a wall that has been there for years. Tabitha Simmons, co-owner of retail tenant Tacos & Beer, told commissioners last month that “we are struggling greatly” with crime in the area, and the proposed higher wall would be important for the area’s revitalization.

According to Cohen, retailers have reported that people hopping the barrier have committed crime at the complex.

Messiah Jacobs, who owns residential property east of the project site, told commissioners the wall blocks neighbors’ access to Paradise, which has bus stops and other services, and creates a “feeling of us and them.”

He told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Monday that homeless people camp out in the alleyway along the wall, which stretches behind more than one property along Paradise.

“It just hasn’t served the community well,” Jacobs said.

June 17th fire

The Park at 3900’s office complex was destroyed in a massive fire June 17. At the time, Clark County Fire Chief Greg Cassell said no sprinklers had been installed in the two-story structure.

The fire may have started in its common attic, which had no smoke detectors, and could have been burning for hours before anyone noticed, he said.

Contact Eli Segall at esegall@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342. Follow @eli_segall on Twitter.