Not every new Roberto’s Taco Shop or a Capriotti’s sandwich restaurant gets a proclamation from the city of Las Vegas or a VIP groundbreaking.
But that’s what happened late last month when the two fast food restaurants started construction at the Huntridge Center.
The shopping center provides an economic anchor for the Huntridge neighborhood around Maryland Parkway and Charleston Boulevard, on the southeastern edge of downtown Las Vegas.
“The goal was to purchase this property and couple around it and to really change the makeup of the neighborhood,” said developer J Dapper, who owns the shopping center.
To date, Dapper and Scott Silver, partners in Ten15Development, have invested more than $10 million upgrading the property. Dapper said the improvements, which have included landscaping and upgraded signage and exteriors, allowed the center to attract new tenants.
Also in neighborhood is the De Castroverde Law Group, a longtime fixture on Maryland Parkway that is giving a face lift to its building, which sits on the site that was the boyhood home of former Sen. Richard Bryan.
Alex De Castroverde, a partner in the firm and a son of its founder, said proximity to clients, the courthouse and Fremont Street makes it a good location that’s getting better with the new investments.
“We’ve been blessed to be at the right place at the right time to be located in the Huntridge area,” De Castroverde said. “The neighbors are special; they care deeply about making it better, making it safer.”
He said challenges remain, including the homeless congregating and littering Huntridge Circle Park, which sits on an island in Maryland Parkway near his offices.
De Castroverde said good samaritans who feed the homeless in the park — something advocates for the homeless typically oppose — should consider the costs.
“Those individuals who come and feed the homeless I don’t think they’re doing any favors to the homeless. They’re certainly not doing any favors to the neighborhood,” he said. “The element that they attract, I don’t think it’s what the residents want. I certainly don’t think it’s what the residents deserve.”
J Dapper, Huntridge Center developer; Alex De Castroverde, attorney; Michael Vannozzi, Downtown Vegas Alliance