NYC’s Rockefeller Group to develop project in Las Vegas
The firm that developed New York City’s iconic Rockefeller Center has unveiled plans for its first Las Vegas project.
Needless to say, it will be a bit different from a Manhattan skyscraper.
Rockefeller Group announced this week that it purchased a 6-acre plot in the east valley for about $4.3 million with plans to develop a 134,100-square-foot distribution facility.
It expects to break ground in December, spokesman Brian Mahoney said.
Located at the southwest corner of Nellis Boulevard and Carey Avenue, the project, Nellis Logistics Center, would be near other industrial properties, a Lowe’s, and housing tracts.
James Wall, senior associate at Rockefeller Group, said in a release that the supply for industrial buildings is “extremely tight” in the Las Vegas area, which, he added, has the second-lowest vacancy rate in the western U.S., “so we are confident that there will be strong interest in our project.”
Southern Nevada’s industrial market has heated up during the pandemic amid an accelerated shift to online shopping that has fueled demand for distribution space. Developers have launched numerous new projects, landlords have bought more buildings, and vacancies have shrunk to historic lows.
More than 8 million square feet of industrial space was under construction in Southern Nevada during the first quarter this year, up from almost 5.5 million square feet during the same period in 2021, brokerage Colliers International reported.
The region’s industrial vacancy rate was just 1.7 percent in the first quarter, the lowest Colliers has ever recorded for Southern Nevada, the firm said.
New York City-based Rockefeller Group developed Rockefeller Center, Mahoney said, and the firm traces its roots, as the name implies, to the wealthy Rockefeller family.
As outlined in published accounts, oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller’s son, John D. Rockefeller Jr., incorporated the development firm’s predecessor in 1928, and construction at 30 Rockefeller Plaza — now one of multiple office towers in the famed complex — started in 1932.
According to a 1989 news report, Rockefeller Group was the family’s investment arm, and their “flashiest asset” was Rockefeller Center.
By 1995, the Japanese-controlled ownership group behind Rockefeller Center filed for bankruptcy. New York real estate giant Tishman Speyer reached a deal in 2000 to acquire the complex and still operates it.
Rockefeller Group’s portfolio spans multiple states and includes a luxury condo project in Atlanta, industrial developments in South Carolina and an office tower in Virginia.
Mahoney confirmed the distribution center at Nellis and Carey marks the company’s first ground-up development in the Las Vegas area.
Contact Eli Segall at esegall@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342. Follow @eli_segall on Twitter.
