Las Vegas Valley offers variety of age-qualified communities — PHOTOS

Friends Enjoying Beverage By A Golf Course

Close up of male senior golf player.

Senior Couple Riding In Golf Buggy On Golf Course

Two mature couples golfing, woman lining up shot

The largest age-qualified community in the Las Vegas Valley is Sun City Summerlin, where 7,779 homes have been developed on 2,400 acres near the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. STAN HANEL/REAL ESTATE MILLIONS

The Las Vegas Valley is a good place to retire, with a lifestyle that offers a lot of value for the dollar, a host of amenities and glamorous attractions. A 24/7 tourist culture can keep retirees occupied fully throughout their golden years.

According to the website 55places.com, there are 13 age-qualified communities in Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and Henderson.

“Our customers are buying into a lifestyle, as well as a home,” said Ray Glasser, a partner agent with 55places.com, who is also a real estate agent with Encore Realty Group. “These age-qualified communities are like country clubs, usually with a clubhouse, activities and many amenities.”

As the baby-boom generation continues to enter retirement age, homebuilders have initiated a new wave of construction that emphasizes age-qualified communities.

In addition to Lennar in Henderson and Ardiente in North Las Vegas, new construction projects have been announced this year in Summerlin.

The Regency at Summerlin is being built by Toll Brothers within The Cliffs Village. It will feature 425 single-family homes ranging from 1,600 to 2,400 square feet. Recreational amenities will revolve around a 16,000-square-foot clubhouse with an indoor lap pool. The community is near the Siena Golf Club and Bear’s Best Las Vegas golf courses.

In Summerlin South near the southwest corner of Flamingo Road and Town Center Blvd., the former Montechiaro condominium project will be torn down to make room for the new Latitude age-qualified community by Newport Pacific Land Co. The development project will feature 358 one- and two-story homes configured as attached duplexes. Living space will range from 1,850 to 3,000 square feet and will be priced starting at the mid-$300,000 range. Club 45 is a 14,000-square-foot “gathering space” for residents and will feature a fitness center and indoor lap pool.

Mesquite, 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas and 40 miles south of St. George, Utah, has also been a development site for age-qualified communities. Sun City Mesquite has been developed by Pulte Homes and new-home construction continues to be added to the existing community that first opened in 2007. The development now includes 3,750 homes priced from $150,000 to $500,000. Homes range from 1,200 to 3,100 square feet. Some include casitas.

The Pioneer Center clubhouse encompasses 30,000 square feet of activity space with indoor and outdoor resort-style pools, two spas, fitness center, ballroom, billiards room, lounge and craft rooms. An activities coordinator is on staff and dozens of social clubs have been formed by residents.

The Conestoga Golf Club was built by architect Gary Panks around a 7,204-yard, par-72 golf course that is available to residents at discount rates.

An outdoor Sports Pavilion features four tennis courts, basketball court, an 18-hole putting course, seven bocce ball courts and six pickleball courts. Pickleball players use a paddle and plastic ball to play a sport similar to badminton and tennis.

There are also five other adult retirement communities in Mesquite that are much smaller, ranging from 46 to 130 homes. These include Highland Fairways, Highland Hills, Sun Crest, Mesa Hills and Shadow Crest.

Las Vegas

The largest community of this type in the Las Vegas Valley is Sun City Summerlin, where 7,779 homes have been developed on 2,400 acres near the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. These residences were built by Del Webb from 1989 to 1999, with extensive amenities that included four clubhouses, three golf courses, three restaurants, views of the Las Vegas skyline and surrounding mountains, tree-lined streets, outdoor trails and parks, dining, shopping and recreation at nearby neighborhood resorts.

Now owned by Pulte Group, Del Webb has been building age-qualified Sun City communities since its first development project opened in Phoenix during 1960.

Over the past 55 years, the company has constructed 50 age-qualified communities across 20 states, including seven in Southern Nevada The company founder, Delbert Eugene “Del” Webb, also helped built iconic resorts in Las Vegas that included the original Flamingo Hotel and Casino for Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel in 1947, as well as the Sahara resort and The Mint. Webb was also a business associate and golfing companion to Howard Hughes. The Del Webb Middle School in Henderson opened in 2005.

Sun City Summerlin originally offered prospective homebuyers a choice of 42 models, either single-family dwellings or attached townhomes. The townhomes offered living spaces from 1,003 to 1,757 square feet that could include as many as two bedrooms and two baths with attached garages. Single-family homes ranged from 1,086 to 2,895 square feet, as many as three bedrooms and 2½ baths, with larger attached garages and half-garages. The half-garages were built to house a golf cart, a popular form of alternative transportation within Sun City communities that can be driven on any street within the development property without the need for license plates or Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles registration.

Four clubhouses within Sun City Summerlin include fitness centers, tennis courts, racquetball, a grand ballroom, Olympic-size swimming pool, spas, a softball field, a music room, a 312-seat theater with a stage for performance arts and other recreational activities. Eighty social clubs and interest groups have been formed by residents over the last 25 years. Educational opportunities and organized excursions are available from within Sun City as well as the local community of greater Las Vegas.

“We love it here,” said Dennis Nicpon, who moved with his wife from Chicago about 10 years ago to escape the chill of winter. Nicpon organized the first classic car show at Sun City Summerlin in 2014 and convinced about 50 residents to participate. This summer, over 150 cars were displayed during the second annual event and he has more plans for the next show in 2016.

Since Sun City Summerlin is also part of the Summerlin master-planned community, residents have access to 150 miles of trails and 100 neighborhood parks adjoining the Red Rock National Conservation Area.

During 2015, home resale prices within Sun City Summerlin have ranged from $150,000 to $850,000, with one house now on the market for $999,888 at 3120 Highland Falls Drive. Richard Emanuele from Team Emanuele at Simply Vegas has the listing.

Residents pay a general community maintenance fee of about $107 each month to maintain common areas throughout the community. Townhome owners pay an additional homeowners association fee that varies from $150 to $300 per month because of common walls with their neighbors. Each HOA fee depends on the size of the home and neighborhood location to nearby amenities. The additional HOA fee covers all external landscaping, roof maintenance, external paint, as well as any specialty area of maintenance required.

Single-family homes are not required to pay additional HOA fees but then owners must maintain their homes and assume financial responsibility for any repairs to the house structure.

Other age-qualified communities in Las Vegas include Siena (2.001 homes with resale prices from $220,000 to $850,000), Los Prados (1,358 homes with resale prices from $130,000 to $380,000), Solera at Stallion Mountain (838 homes with resale prices from $175,000 to $290,000), Promenade at The Meadows (188 homes with resale prices from $125,000 to $230,000), Rancho Las Brisas (180 homes with resale prices from $150,000 to $260,000), and Silver Canyon Condos (150 condominiums with resale prices from $94,500 to $140,000).

Solera at Stallion Mountain is also a Del Webb development, built from 2005 to 2014. It is a smaller, guard-gated community with five styles of single-story ranch homes. Living spaces range from 1,155 to 1,716 square feet.

Henderson

Sun City Anthem in Henderson is nestled in the foothills of the Black Mountains 800 feet above the floor of the Las Vegas Valley. Many homes have views of the Las Vegas skyline as well as the scenic mountain landscape behind them.

The community is just slightly smaller than Sun City Summerlin at 7,144 homes, but features newer construction built from 1998 to 2008. Del Webb offered 31 single-family homes and two villa models for original buyers, with covered front porches and back patios. Larger homes had front courtyards and casitas.

Current resale listings show homes with living spaces ranging from 1,280 to 1,837 square feet. Home resale prices within the Sun City Anthem community range from $180,000 to $1.25 million.

The Revere Golf Club, designed by Billy Casper and George Nash, offers a country club lifestyle within the community that includes a pro shop and full-service restaurant.

Three clubhouses provide tennis courts, billiards, and physical fitness pursuits, as well as specialty rooms for arts, crafts and hobbies, a computer lab and other educational opportunities.

Solera at Anthem is a sister community to Sun City Anthem that includes 1,822 homes and is also in the Anthem master-planned community. The building project was developed by Del Webb from 2003 to 2008. Single-family homes have living space ranging from 1,140 to 1,771 square feet. Attached duplex and triplex homes have living spaces from 1,519 to 1,590 square feet. Resale home prices range from $120,000 up to $330,000.

Sun City McDonald Ranch is near the Black Mountains along Horizon Ridge Parkway. At 2,100 feet, it is above the floor of the Las Vegas Valley. The Del Webb development features 2,131 single-family homes and 382 attached-duplex villas on 564 acres. A variety of models was built from 1996 to 2001. Attached-duplex villas range from 1,090 to 1,264 square feet with two bedrooms, two baths and an attached two-car garage. Single-family homes range from 1,020 to 2,027 square feet and included one to four bedrooms, two to three baths, and an attached two-car garage.

The Desert Willow Clubhouse includes 36,000 square feet of activity space that includes a fitness center, grand ballroom with stage, dance/aerobics studio, billiards room and library, as well as an outdoor swimming pool, spa, and three lighted tennis courts. Dozens of social clubs are coordinated by an activities director.

During 2015, home resale prices within the Sun City McDonald Ranch community have ranged from $180,000 up to $450,000.

The new Heritage Active Adult community at Cadence is being built by Lennar. The development company has 20 available new single-family model home designs to show age-qualified adults that range from 1,700 to 3,000 square feet, with pricing from $320,00 to $450,000. Construction is scheduled to begin during the winter of 2015 to begin building out 523 new homes.

North Las Vegas

Sun City Aliante in North Las Vegas includes 2,000 homes near the foothills of the Sheep Mountain Range on the north side of the Las Vegas Valley, not far from Interstate 215 Beltway.

Seven single-family home models were offered to original buyers when they were built from 2003 to 2008. Living space ranged from 1,155 square feet to 2,105 square feet that included two to three bedrooms, two bedrooms and an attached two-car garage.

A central clubhouse includes indoor lap pool and spa, weight room, a large ballroom, fitness equipment, billiards, hobby and craft rooms, tennis courts, horseshoe pits and other amenities for active adults. A community activities director coordinates more than 30 social clubs.

Within the greater Aliante master-planned community, there are 465 acres of recreational spaces that include parks, playgrounds, water features, and trails that wind throughout the community. The Aliante Golf Club was design by Gary Panks Associates.

Community amenities within walking distance include 100 commercial retail shops and the Aliante Station.

During 2015, home resale prices within the Sun City Aliante Community have ranged from $125,000 to $350,000

Ardiente in North Las Vegas is the newest age-qualified community in the Las Vegas Valley, with most of the residences built by Shea Homes after 2010. New homes are available for purchase that have been built with energy-efficient, green technologies developed over the past decade, including photovoltaic solar panels.

After the recent recession, the new Ardiente homes offer older buyers a lot more technology choices and amenities that weren’t available in houses built 20 years ago.

Double-pane windows, cellulose insulation, Energy Star appliances, low-flow plumbing for showerheads and faucets, smart thermostats and remote-controlled Light-emitting diode lighting fixtures can all conserve energy usage by home residents.

“The solar panels will harvest up to 60 percent of the electricity required by the home’s occupants during the year,” said John Diaz, sales and marketing coordinator at Shea Homes for Ardiente.

Shea Homes has partnered with SolarCity, a provider of photovoltaic solar cell arrays, to offer several SheaSolar energy packages for Ardiente customers.

The community has only 788 single-family homes configured in seven models ranging from 1,470 to 2,259 square feet. These models can include two to four bedrooms, two to three baths and an attached two or three-car garage.

Amenities include a 20,000-square-foot clubhouse with fitness center, billiards, card rooms, outdoor pool, spa, tennis court, basketball court, walking trails and six parks.

The Shadow Creek Golf Course designed by Tom Fazio is just 3 miles away.

There are quite a few housing choices in many price ranges that available for seniors who want to continue to own their own homes but also want to feel less burdened by upkeep and maintenance while they enjoy their retirement years.