The City of Henderson is open for business. And families. And for anyone who enjoys being in a city consistently awarded best of designations.
In November of last year, for example, 24/7 Wall Street named Henderson to the list of America’s 50 Best Cities to Live in.
The city is growing. Businesses are opening, financial services and corporate headquarters are calling Henderson home and new residents are moving into new homes in new master-planned communities.
Business is vibrant and developers are building. Residential construction is up, with three large projects in motion. Areas previously underserved in retail are catching up, there’s positive growth in healthcare and three medical schools are training doctors. Educational attainment in Henderson is the highest in the state with institutions working together for the good of the community.
Henderson is experiencing a well-managed boom with big potential and small-town values.
“We’ve created an environment where businesses – and the people who own and work in them – thrive,” said Barbra Coffee, director, Economic Development and Tourism, City of Henderson.
My Commercial Real Estate ...
Room to Grow
Coffee said 2016 started off as a really good year for Henderson. There’s increased activity from businesses looking to locate and existing businesses looking to expand. To go with that, there’s approximately 1 million square feet of industrial space under development. The space is being built just to meet business needs.
Panattoni Development Company has several projects underway, said Doug Roberts, partner, including Henderson Freeways Crossing, a business park that will total more than 450,000 square feet of industrial space and a large project near Henderson Executive Airport. The draw to build in Henderson is partly the logistics – proximity to California via I-15 and the executive airport – and partly that the community and the city are welcoming. In addition, the vacancy rate for industrial space is around 1 percent so there’s demand for new product.
One company already utilizing space in Henderson is Xtreme Manufacturing. The company manufactures forklifts, including the large models that resemble cranes. Henderson had the acreage and the square footage Xtreme needed, said CEO Don Ahern, and the mayor was very welcoming and helpful during the move from Las Vegas.
With industrial space under construction, Henderson is ready for companies whose executives need to make near-term decisions on location and space; Henderson can compete with Phoenix, Southern Utah and the Inland Empire in Southern California. “We’re all looking for our share of industry locations and having the ready-to-go space is important,” said Coffee. Henderson’s good to go with spaces of 17,000-square-feet and larger.
For the larger, regional distribution user, Prologis is building spec product, in part because of the proximity to market, according to Fritz Wyler, senior vice president. Prologis has a 232,000-square-foot building finishing up spring 2016.
Harsch Investment Properties is both developer and landlord. Between its Henderson Commerce Center project and its business parks, John Ramous, senior vice president and regional manager, said Harsch has more than 2 million square feet of industrial properties in Henderson. Adding to that number, the company broke ground on a 240,000 square foot light distribution center in spring 2016.
Manufacturing companies in addition to Xtreme Manufacturing already making Henderson home include K2 Energy and VSR Industries.
VSR Industries, a manufacturer in the casino industry, has been in Nevada since 1969. The move to Henderson happened in 2007 when TWC Construction put up a build-to-suit facility for VSR. What keeps them there is proximity to client base, ease of doing business with the city and the assistance of the city’s economic development team in navigating city requirements for doing business, according to Colton Vollmann, CEO.
The food and beverage industry is well established with companies like Ocean Spray and Unilever located in Henderson. More industry related companies and ancillary businesses are expected to locate in Henderson in the next 12 to 18 months.
Along with food and beverage, and with the manufacturing and medical industries, Henderson is seeing financial services, call centers and customer services centers locating to their part of the valley.
The area is perfectly positioned for logistics and distribution, with Phoenix and Southern California easily accessible. Located 50 miles from the California border and 234 miles from Los Angeles, Henderson is minutes from McCarran Airport and is served by major highways I-15, US 95, US 93 and Highway 146. As E-commerce grows, Henderson is perfectly located to serve the western region.
Henderson is home to an airport, serving business and corporate travel. The airport is a focal point for new employment opportunities.
The local offerings dovetail nicely with city officials’ commitment to create jobs and change the job to resident ratio so it’s more in balance, according to Coffee. “The majority of our workforce still goes outside city limits to work. We’re trying to change that,” she said.
The goal is to bolster industry sectors that will allow residents to live and work in Henderson.
With Henderson being home to the Executive Airport and the tax abatements in place, aviation is one industry Henderson would like to see more of. In July 2015, the Governor’s Office on Economic Development (GOED) approved seven sales and property tax abatements for Nevada companies.
For new businesses, Henderson’s entitlement procedures are streamlined and simple. City officials worked with NAIOP (a commercial real estate development association) and other local trade groups to create one of the top systems in the country. Projects are submitted online and tracked through a transparent process that shows where they are in the queue.
“Local government maintains an open-door policy of full access and transparency,” said Coffee.
Henderson ranked #94 out of 150 most populated U.S. cities for best city to start a business (WalletHub.com, May 2015).
A feasibility study is underway in Henderson to determine if an innovation center or business incubator/accelerator could foster homegrown businesses. At present, the Business Resource Center, part of the Henderson Chamber, offers startup office space and services to assist new businesses and hopefully keep them in the community, said Scott Muelrath, president and CEO, Henderson Chamber of Commerce.
Currently chamber principals are seeing a lot of development in the city, with expansion of healthcare, residential and academic services. “When there’s that much development, all the money coming in creates a ripple effect and picks up hiring and demand for workforce, which is improving,” said Muelrath. Something is definitely happening. February 2016 was the chamber’s best month ever, with 47 new membership businesses signing up.
K2 Energy got its start in the Henderson Business Resource Center, and was there two years before moving to its own facility. The price was right, phone systems and utilities were already set up, there was even office and conference space.
“All the business had to do was run the business,” said Johnnie Stoker, CEO. They’ve remained in Henderson because city government is supportive and they’ve been able to hire qualified people. Stoker sits on the Governor’s Workforce Development Board and K2 works with UNLV on projects.
My Home ...
Room to Live
Law Street Media 2015 Top 10 Safest Cities Over 200,000 ranks Henderson fifth.
Looking for a place to live? From high end lots to executive housing to luxury apartments and low and moderate income housing, Henderson’s got homes, and with three major master-planned communities in progress, there’s something for everyone.
Inspirada spans 1,100 acres, seven villages, 30 models and floor plans from 1,500 to more than 4,000 square feet. There’s a community to fit every lifestyle, 85 acres of parks and open space. Why build Inspirada in Henderson?
“We think Henderson is a special place to live,” said Jim Rizzi, project manager. “When you look around at the neighborhoods, the park system, the leadership in the city, it’s top notch.”
My Parks...
Room with a View
Henderson is home to 63 city parks. Fit Cities Index in 2015 reported Henderson has 7.7 park acres per 1,000 residents.
The League of American Bicyclists awarded Henderson the silver award level Bicycle Friendly Community in November 2015.
In addition, new home communities are upping the city’s profile when it comes to park development. Cadence, a master-planned community designed for active lifestyles, spans 2,200 acres with 450 acres of open space – parks, walking and biking trails. Cadence offers a spectrum of choices, from single family homes to condominiums to townhomes, as well as a free bike-share program.
Overlooking Henderson in the McCullough Range, Ascaya is a new custom luxury home development. According to Darin Marques, sales manager, the draw to Henderson is the views, the landscape and the terrain. Hillside lots overlook the valley and back into the Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area.
My Education...
Room to Learn
Henderson has the highest educational attainment levels in the state.
There are over 20 institutions of higher education in Henderson. Complementing the expansion of healthcare systems, three are medical schools: Touro University, as well as the soon-to-open Roseman University College of Medicine and University of Nevada, Las Vegas School of Medicine.
Touro University, Nevada’s largest medical school, receives 3,700 applications for its 135 doctor training slots, said Shelley Berkley, CEO and senior provost. The physicians assistant program receives 1,100 applications for 60 slots, and students in both programs receive multiple job offers even before graduation.
“In part, the expansion of healthcare systems in Henderson is due to Roseman University being located in the city with its School of Pharmacy,” said Jeff Leake, manager, City of Henderson Economic Development. Roseman University of Health Sciences also offers nursing and orthodontic programs, and received a grant to help veterans with applicable skill sets earn nursing degrees.
Roseman University connects with the community on several levels, said Renee Coffman, president and co-founder. At health fairs, students assisting faculty have performed 1,320 blood glucose, 750 blood pressure and 462 cholesterol screenings. Orthodontic residents participate in “Give Kids a Smile” programs for low income families, and students working with seniors have helped them save on Medicare options.
Roseman is slated to start a MD program, training the first wave of doctors enrolled in their program in 2017, around the same time UNLV will roll out its new medical school.
In Henderson, schools tend to work together to better the community. Nevada State College (NSC), a comprehensive state college with a strong general education curriculum and 29 degree fields, recently initiated a “2+2+2” program, urging students to move from the community college level of College of Southern Nevada to NSC for their bachelor’s and then UNLV for graduate work.
NSC is starting a communications degree with a public relations emphasis, and continuing to graduate teachers and speech pathologists to meet local school district needs, said Bart Patterson, NSC president.
My Healthcare
Room for Healing
Previously an underserved industry in Henderson, healthcare is expanding.
“There’s a fair amount of healthcare development going on right now with the new Henderson Hospital under construction at Union Village,” said Coffee.
Union Village is a unique concept, an integrated health village that will encompass Henderson Hospital, which will open in fall 2016 with 24-hour emergency care, childbirth and cardiology services.
“Listed as the top healthcare building project in the U.S. by Health Facilities Management, Union Village will offer a world-class hospital complex and health center, residential, entertainment and specialty retail space, a vibrant senior retirement community and a civic and cultural arts center integrated into a master-planned community,” explained Gary Holland, cofounder.
The new hospital is expected to bring in medical-related industries, including medical offices, skilled nursing facilities, long-term care facilities, assisted living and industry centered around acute care hospitals. Ancillary retail is expected to go alongside, creating an entire community built around healthcare. Union Village will create 17,000 (direct, indirect and construction) jobs.
The Siena campus of St. Rose Hospital, part of the Dignity Health network, has added 2,000 square feet of emergency room and doubled ICU and intermediate care beds, added operating rooms and post-anesthesia areas and expanded cardiac labs.
“Good quality healthcare is at the top of the list of what people look at in communities,” said Brian Brannman, senior vice president of operations, Nevada. He credits the city of Henderson for being very supportive of the hospital’s efforts to expand and build an ambulatory clinic.
“Once you have some strength in an industry sector, that makes [a city] more competitive, more apt to draw more like types of industry because your workforce is ready,” added Leake.
When an industry begins to build in a city, if one company or segment of the industry goes away, the workforce doesn’t necessary have to. “If that business goes away, workers can find a job across the street. That’s what they get to do in the Bay Area and what we want to be able to do here,” said Coffee. Consequently, Henderson is working to strengthen industry sectors across the board, creating a strong workforce from which employers can recruit.
My Retail, My Downtown
Room to Play
When it comes to downtown redevelopment, “Henderson is known for not leaving any area behind,” said Coffee. “We’re always looking for areas to enhance and upgrade, so that every area of the city is coming up, not being left to decline.”
Retail follows rooftops: there needs to be residents in an area before retail services arrive to serve them. Established Henderson retail includes Galleria at Sunset, in the process of remodeling, and The District at Green Valley Ranch, which offers special events in addition to shopping.
The heart of downtown, Water Street was Henderson’s original Main Street. Today it’s a pedestrian-friendly mix of events and arts, Art Deco and modernist architecture, dining and specialty shopping and the recently opened Lovelady Brewery.
According to Windom Kimsey, CEO, Tate, Snyder, Kimsey architectural firm, he became interested in downtown redevelopment when proposing a science center for Henderson. While that project didn’t move forward, Kimsey said he, “Caught the redevelopment bug and saw the opportunity to create a mixed-use project on Water Street.”
Slated to be the firm’s office by fall 2016, the first floor will be home to a café that fronts onto Water Street in the redevelopment district.
Retail services are fairly developed in Henderson. What’s happening now is mostly expansion and infill. Costco is locating in West Henderson and retail is starting to emerge around state roads, according to Cody Walker, economic development officer, City of Henderson.
Henderson has been named America’s second safest city by Forbes and one of the best cities to live in by Bloomberg Businessweek. The FBI called it one of the top 10 Safest Cities in the United States.
With new home construction and businesses opening and expanding, there’s plenty of opportunity to make My Henderson ... Your Henderson.
The post My Henderson appeared first on Nevada Business Magazine.