Today, the entrance to the Water Street District in downtown Henderson looks unimpressive, but the City of Henderson Redevelopment Agency has big plans. The first of many businesses to open around the corner of Lake Mead Parkway and Water St will be a Target, and it is set to open its doors on July 27^th.

“This area naturally developed as the heart of our town. This is where our city started. It is a natural downtown, and it has evolved over time so it has character and place and a sense of community already here. We don’t have to build that from scratch, we don’t have to create it.  It’s here already, we just have to enhance it and make it even better,” Redevelopment Manager Michelle Romero said.

Even though the rest of Southern Nevada’s economy is slow, Romero said that her department hasn’t had much trouble leasing out space. There are a few empty buildings now, but people interested in starting a business are coming in steadily because the rent is low and Henderson is still growing.

“We have seen some slow down in the economy…it’s happening everywhere. But we still have a very high interest we have people in every day that are looking to locate down here. It’s just a matter of finding the right match for the particular business that comes in, so, while the economy has affected us some, we’re still finding people coming down here quite a bit,” Romero explained.

Dave Beason, lifelong Henderson resident, business owner and president of the Downtown Business Association says business at his muffler shop has been steady. He also said that he loves the redevelopment plan, but is frustrated that the gateway to the district still looks dirty and industrial.

“Once (people) get past the original construction that they’re doing right now, it’s really a nice place to be. It’s that first block that we’re struggling with right now to get people past that first block that’s under construction and development,” Beason said.

Beason has seen decades of change come through Henderson, and he says that the Water Street District redevelopment is a much needed way to strengthen the community.

“It’s a lot better off right now than it was 15 to 20 years ago. We’re a lot better off, and it’s going in a great direction. So as long as we can keep going that direction, I think within the next four to five years, we’ll see some really neat stuff down here and it’ll be just as neat as across the street at the Target center.”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 16th, 2008 at 1:57 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.