Federal officials have sold more land for a Las Vegas senior affordable-housing complex that’s under construction.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management recently sold 5 acres in the south valley to the Nevada Housing Division at a steep discount for the second phase of Ensemble, as the 370-unit apartment development is known.
Ensemble is being developed and will be managed by Ovation Development Corp., an apartment company owned by Alan Molasky, son of famed Las Vegas developer Irwin Molasky.
The second phase will have 188 units. Qualifying military veterans will be given preference for at least 10 percent of them.
Construction is scheduled to start by June 1 and should be completed by the end of 2016, BLM spokeswoman Kirsten Cannon said.
The 5 acres had an appraised market value of $1.8 million, but the BLM sold the property for just $90,000, a 95 percent discount, according to Cannon. The sale closed a few weeks ago.
Under the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act, government agencies can buy BLM-administered land for affordable housing at up to a 95 percent price break.
The 5-acre first phase, at 182 units, is under construction. It’s slated to be finished by the end of June, with the first units ready in April, Cannon said.
The BLM sold that site to the state last November for $52,000. It had an appraised market value of $1.04 million.
People age 55 and up can live in the complex — located at Agate Avenue and Kimo Street, near the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Pebble Road — if their income is less than 60 percent of the area’s average median income.
Ensemble will be 99 percent-owned by Wells Fargo Bank, said Lorri Murphy, vice president of real estate development at Ovation. The remaining 1 percent will be owned by Ovation and partner Accessible Space Inc., an affordable housing developer based in St. Paul, Minn.
A state-approved, tax-exempt bond is helping finance the complex. The developers bought the project site from the Nevada Housing Division for the same price the state had paid, Murphy said.
Monthly rents for phase one start at $606 for a one-bedroom unit and $728 for a two-bedroom. Both prices include utilities.
Rental rates for the second phase aren’t finalized, but for now, they’re slated to start at $576 per month for a one-bedroom unit and $692 for a two-bedroom. Those prices also include utilities.
Ensemble's amenities will include a fitness room, billiards, picnic areas, salon and swimming pool, Murphy said.