Contractors, home builders, Realtors and apartment owners don't always see eye to eye. In Southern Nevada, they've decided they have more to gain by talking to lawmakers together.
The Southern Nevada Development Coalition launched in August as an alliance of organizations representing construction, housing, real estate and related industries, Tina Frias, CEO of the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association, told VEGAS INC in a story published Oct. 5.
"It's really about unifying our message and our voice where that makes sense, and also pulling together our resources and contacts so that we can be even more impactful in the community," Frias said.
Who's at the table
The coalition's members, as listed by the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association, are a who's who of the local building industry: the Las Vegas chapter of the National Utility Contractors Association, the Nevada Contractors Association, Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors of Nevada, Associated Builders and Contractors of Nevada, the Nevada Subcontractors Association, NAIOP Southern Nevada, the Nevada State Apartment Association, Las Vegas Realtors, Nevada Realtors and the home builders association itself.
The group held its first event, a luncheon at The Orleans, on Tuesday, Aug. 18. FOX5 reported that the sold-out event drew more than 600 people. Brian Gordon of Applied Analysis moderated two panels on land, water, housing and public policy.
"Southern Nevada's biggest challenges are interconnected," Frias told FOX5 at the launch. "They cannot be resolved in a vacuum or with one organization acting alone."
Tiffany Banks, CEO of Nevada Realtors, said the same in the VEGAS INC story.
"When we're talking about issues, whether it's housing attainability, land availability, infrastructure, water, the cost of construction and development, financing, insurance, regulation and ultimately our ability to continue growing in a responsible way, there's no single organization or industry that can solve those issues alone," she said.
Banks said Realtors usually see the end of the process, while builders, developers and contractors each see the market from a different angle. Putting those views together, she said, makes each group a better advocate.
Many reasons for high prices
Banks said housing attainability is the issue that ties everything else together.
"People sometimes look at the price of a home and assume that there's one reason that it costs what it costs," she said. "But there isn't."
She listed infrastructure, permitting and regulatory requirements, labor and materials, financing and interest rates, and insurance.
"All of those factors eventually show up somewhere in the cost of housing," Banks said. "We shouldn't just ask, how do we make housing more affordable? We should also be willing to ask, what are we doing, sometimes unintentionally even, that makes housing more expensive?"
Land is the biggest constraint. Robin Crawford, executive director of the Nevada State Apartment Association, noted that the federal government owns more than 80% of Nevada's land. Developing housing on more of it would make sense, she said, but the red tape is hard to cut through.
"If there was more supply brought to the market, that would put downward pressure on rents," Crawford said.
She said the coalition hopes to be a resource for city and county officials and lawmakers. Down the road, that could mean legislation, or at least a seat at the table.
"It's very new," she said, "but a long-term goal would be to see maybe some piece of legislation."
"The question isn't whether we're going to grow," Banks said. "The most important question is how we grow thoughtfully and make sure that people who make these communities work can continue to be a part of them."
She added that the region is still building. "People complain about those orange cones everywhere, but that's actually a really good thing," she said.
Why it matters for Contractors
This coalition gives contractors and subs a seat at the same table as builders, Realtors and apartment owners. Utility contractors, plumbers, HVAC and mechanical contractors, open-shop builders and specialty subs all have their trade groups among the members, and a unified voice on land, permitting and costs carries more weight with the county commission, city councils and Nevada's congressional delegation. If the coalition helps free up more federal land or ease approvals, that means more lots and more work for site, utility and vertical trades. Contractors who want a say in that fight should get involved through their own trade association.