Tagged: development

Larry Stevens is an evolutionary biologist. For the last 41 years, he’s dedicated much of his life to the study and salvation of springs, little spots where water bubbles out of the earth.

Stevens stands in huge alcove carved out of a sandstone cliff on a remoter trail in Grand Canyon National Park. He holds a measuring cup under a stream of water that drips from a cluster of bright green ferns.

“Dripping Springs is a fairly small spring,” Stevens says. “We’re looking at half a gallon a minute of flow.”

LAS VEGAS — The unending rash of foreclosures and falling home prices in Las Vegas continues to cause despair. But the same housing crisis is causing some investors to see opportunity. Home prices have dropped to 1990s levels, and many homes in the area are selling for below the amount it would cost to build them.

In fact, these Las Vegas homes are getting noticed from buyers all over the world.

Kevin Chu recently toured Las Vegas for the first time to check on his investment firm’s properties.

LAS VEGAS — Like most Southwest cities, the Las Vegas growth model was to expand out, creating sprawling suburbs and quiet gated communities.

But one trendsetting local business – the online shoe company, Zappos – thinks an urban setting would be a better fit for its employees and industry.

PPHOENIX — Homebuilders have long made a living expanding the edges of Southwestern cities. But look around these days and you’ll find construction projects that have screeched to a halt.

Up to 1 million lots in Central Arizona were in some stage of approval for new homes when the market crashed, according to the Sonoran Institute.