The early adopters of the latest redevelopment plan for Henderson’s Water Street district had one thing in common, it seems: the number of people who questioned their sanity.
“A lot,” Windom Kimsey says. “First, my wife thought I was crazy.”
“It was really sleepy, and we were told more than once that we were crazy,” Tom Wucherer says.
“What I heard about Water Street was, ‘That’s where businesses go to die,’” Juan Vazquez says.
Ah, but that was then, and this is now. Kimsey now lives on Water Street, moved his architectural firm there, and opened Public Works Coffee Bar in 2017 and the bustling Azzurra Cucina Italiana this year.
Wucherer is partnering with Jeff Cruden and Andy Belmonti to develop The Watermark, a mixed-use project from their Strada Development Group. The Watermark is nearing completion, and they have plans to break ground early next year on an even bigger project, the luxury Waterfalls.
And Vazquez’s only regret is that his Water Street restaurant, Juan’s Flaming Fajitas and Cantina, isn’t bigger.
NONE OF THIS happened overnight. “Everyone wants it to be instant. This is an organic process and takes time,” says Kimsey, a native of Chattanooga, Tennessee, who came to Southern Nevada from Chicago 30 years ago. He was living in Anthem Country Club, and his architectural office was elsewhere in Henderson when he began to see Water Street’s potential. Kimsey had been contracted to design a space and science center that never took flight, but his frequent meetings at City Hall familiarized him with downtown. Something about it reminded him of the urban energy of Chicago, which he missed.
The city had established its redevelopment agency in 1995. Water Street was the home of City Hall and the Justice Court, but the Henderson City Council at the time “saw signs of urban decline and distress,” redevelopment manager Anthony Molloy says.
“It was sad,” Kimsey recalls. Vacant storefronts were so abundant it sometimes seemed that tumbleweeds could blow down what had been Henderson’s primary retail street unfettered.
Tim Brooks was one of the earliest visionaries. He and his twin brother, Mike, were veteran casino operators in Northern Nevada and elsewhere in Henderson. “I absolutely saw the potential in downtown Henderson when no one else did,” Tim Brooks says. “This had been the focal point of Henderson and could be again.” They bought the Pot O’ Gold in 2001 and, after refurbishing, opened it as the Emerald Island Casino in 2003. (They acquired the nearby Rainbow Club in 2020.)
Kimsey and Wurcherer say the city’s support in those early days helped them make the leap of faith. “They put their own money into this,” Wucherer says. “Not just talking the talk, but actually doing stuff.”
Plus, land costs were reasonable. “I thought, ‘Let’s go for it and see what happens,’” Kimsey remembers.
The project really started bearing fruit about the middle of the next decade. “Construction of the Pinnacle and the Meridian buildings at Water Street and Atlantic Avenue showed investors’ interest in the development of the downtown area,” Molloy says. Public investment followed private, with the Downtown Complete Streets Project bringing improved sidewalk areas and seating.
“We saw a lot of interest,” Molloy recalls. “There were a lot of projects planned — and then the Great Recession hit.” During the slowdown, the city sought more input on people’s vision for the area. “Across the board, they loved the Main Street feeling,” Molloy says. “‘This is like my hometown.’ That’s what makes us unique.”
THE TURNING POINT, though, was a decade away. The city’s tired convention center was razed to make way for Lifeguard Arena, the 120,000-square foot indoor hockey facility recently renamed America First Center. Opened in 2020, it was on this refrigerated two-sheet venue that the Henderson Silver Knights would practice, desert kids would learn to ice skate, and numerous events would be staged.
“You never know what’s going on at the arena,” Kimsey says. “It’s been good for downtown. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have a 150-unit apartment building across the street.”
City senior public information officer Madeleine Skains says the city is invested in presenting events in the area to create community interest: “They get to see the tradition, fun, and excitement of Water Street.”
Now, construction signs, literal and figurative, are popping up all over the street. “Fifteen years ago, we had a lot of store vacancies; a lot of focus was on trying to keep those places occupied,” Molloy says. “Now, there’s nothing (vacant); there just isn’t enough space to meet the demand.”
Wucherer notes that he and his partners were in sync with the city’s idea that retail alone wouldn’t be enough to give the area new life. “You’ve got to have people in order to have a district like this,” he says.
Hence the group’s seven-story building, The Watermark, which has 151 studio and live/work spaces, including one-, two-, and three-bedroom units. Businesses on the first floor include a PKWY Tavern and Pacific Diner, and a pool and lounge occupy the roof. Wucherer says the first floor is 95 percent leased, and the apartments will be occupied beginning in late July. “We’ve had so many inquiries it’s been crazy,” he says. “So many people want to live in this environment.”
And there are plenty of places for them to dine, with restaurants popping up all along the street. One of the newest is Azzura, which, with the chef and general manager from the extremely popular but now-closed Bratalian on Eastern Avenue, has customers lining up outside before its opening each day.
“We didn’t start from zero,” Kimsey says of the restaurant. “The menu is 90 percent the same as Bratalian. I’m most proud of the food. We need more places like this.”
Except for the week it opened, Juan’s Henderson location has outsold his original spot on West Tropicana Avenue, Vazquez says. It’s another place where customers cluster outside the door in anticipation of the restaurant’s Mexican food, including fajitas served over live grills.
“We believed in it,” he said. “We’re definitely blessed.”
TODAY, THE WATER Street District appears to be a uniquely tight community. Brooks says he encouraged friend Joe DeSimone to buy the old Eldorado from Boyd Gaming in 2020. It’s now The Pass, and a 90-room Atwell Suites-branded hotel is being constructed over its ground-level parking lot.
“We’re looking forward to the other projects to get completed,” Wucherer says. “We’re bullish on what the city is trying to do, and hopefully others will continue to follow."