Two projects near Las Vegas Ballpark making progress

Las Vegas Ballpark’s new neighbors are coming along — with construction on one project set to finish this fall.

Summerlin developer Howard Hughes Corp. expects to finish construction of a 10-story office building just south of the minor-league stadium in October, said Kevin Orrock, Las Vegas regional president.

The company also expects a 295-unit apartment building it’s developing nearby to be ready for move-ins next spring, he indicated Tuesday.

The projects — off Sahara Avenue and the 215 Beltway in the Summerlin community’s commercial core — are expected to cost more than $200 million combined, the company disclosed last year.

The new office building is just over 40 percent leased, Orrock said, adding he wouldn’t be surprised if the majority of it is rented by the time construction wraps up.

Las Vegas is seeing more office construction, and firms have been leasing space. But the office market here and elsewhere is still finding its footing after the coronavirus pandemic sparked widespread work-from-home arrangements, raising questions about how much space firms really needed.

In a survey this spring of U.S. office users, 36 percent indicated a return to the office was already underway, and another 26 percent indicated it would be by the end of the second quarter, real estate brokerage CBRE Group found.

More than 50 percent of respondents were leaving the decision to return to the office up to their workers.

As Orrock sees it, it’s hard to maintain a good company culture when people are working from home and seeing colleagues only through their computer screens.

Incoming tenants at the new building include casino operator Wynn Resorts’ creative arm, Wynn Design & Development, and law firms Clark Hill and ER Injury Attorneys, Hughes Corp. has announced.

“I’m a strong believer (that) people want to come back to the office,” Orrock said.

Texas-based Hughes Corp. sells land to homebuilders in Summerlin, which spans 22,500 acres along the valley’s western rim, boasts 100,000-plus residents and commands some of the highest home prices in Southern Nevada.

The company has also developed hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of projects in Summerlin’s commercial core, bringing retail shops, office buildings, apartments and baseball.

It owns the Las Vegas Aviators minor-league team and its stadium, which sits across from the 106-acre, open-air Downtown Summerlin mall that Hughes Corp. developed.

The firm also developed the neighboring 267-unit Tanager apartment complex and a nearby six-story office building.

Hughes Corp. broke ground last year on its newest office building, known as 1700 Pavilion, and the second phase of Tanager, called Tanager Echo.

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