What is The LandWell Company?

The LandWell Company is a land development company known for its successful redevelopment projects in southern Nevada, including Black Mountain Industrial Center, Valley Auto Mall and the Traverse Point Mixed Use Development. The LandWell Company is a limited partnership, affiliated with Basic Management, Inc. and is based in Henderson. LandWell and Basic Management, Inc. have been developing land for more than 18 years. Since 1991, it has successfully developed more than 1,200 acres of retail, light industrial, commercial and residential projects in and around Henderson. LandWell, led by CEO and President Mark Paris, purchased the 2,200 acres of land east of Boulder Highway in 1992 from Basic Management, Inc. It has overseen the restoration and reclamation efforts of the property.

What is Basic Management, Inc.?

Basic Management Inc. is a privately-owned holding company incorporated in 1952 to own and manage the common utilities of the industrial plants located within the Basic Magnesium plant complex, now known as Black Mountain Industrial Center.  In the 1940's, the Basic Magnesium complex was the site of the world's largest magnesium facility.  It played a vital role in World War II producing the crucial component for aircraft production.  Basic Management, Inc. continues to provide utility services to its industrial and governmental customers and, with more than 55 years of continuous operation, is one of Nevada's oldest companies.  Its safety and on-stream records are among the finest in Nevada.

How do Basic Management, Inc. and The LandWell Company relate to the BMI complex and the industrial plants nearby like TIMET and Tronox?

The TIMET, Tronox, Olin Chlor Alkali and Chemical Lime manufacturing operations are located at the Black Mountain Industrial Center which has grown to include numerous businesses such as Ocean Spray, Milgard Windows and Findlay Toyota, and are located southwest of the 2,200 acres. They are separate companies from Basic Management, Inc. and The LandWell Company.

What is Basic Remediation Company?

Basic Remediation Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Basic Management, Inc. that has carried out remediation and restoration of the 2,200 acre site east of Boulder Highway.

Who will lead the project and keep the public informed from the planning stages, to the clean-up effort, to the eventual construction of the master planned community?

A world-class team has been assembled and includes a diversity of experts charged with the task of coordinating, developing and completing various aspects of this exciting project. The team includes land use planners, engineers, wildlife biologists, geologists, hydrologists, chemists and others.

(Remediation Team -   Design Team )

Basic Remediation has lead the clean up efforts and is facilitating a public outreach program that includes periodic newsletters, meetings open to public participation and a web-site that contains a data repository for all important agreements and plans related to the clean up as well as information on the restoration as it progresses.

The LandWell Company will develop the site once it is restored and will keep the public informed through various sources including the www.landwellco.com web-site.

How does the LandWell Company relate to the development of this property?

The LandWell Company will oversee the development of Cadence, a 2,200-acre parcel of land located in Henderson, east of Boulder Highway. Other members of the development community are involved.

How many homes will be built here and how many people will live here eventually?

The LandWell Company has worked closely with the City of Henderson on how this mixed-use property will be developed. A beautiful master-planned community with open spaces, parks, schools and areas for commercial development is planned here. Approximately 14,000 homes will be here, along with shops, schools, and nearly 500 acres of parks, trails, and open spaces.

At 2,200 acres, will this be one of the larger residential developments in the area?

This will be one of the largest mixed-used master planned communities in southern Nevada. According to the 2007 Las Vegas Perspective, Summerlin has 22,500 acres; Mountain Edge has 3,000 acres; Anthem has 2,525 acres; and Inspirada has 2,000 acres.

When would construction start? 
When could the first people move in to homes on this site?

Residential development is expected to commence in 2011.  It is anticipated the first residents will move into their new homes in late 2011.

Will the mixed-use development have parks and open space, schools, retail development?

The LandWell Company will restore the desert and improve the area's environment, which will pave the way for neighborhood homes, schools, business parks, a town center and even wildlife reserves - all connected by parks and trails for the residents of this landmark master-planned community. More than 150 acres of land have been designated for recreational purposes in the 2,200-acre mixed-use master-planned community. Preliminary plans include a host of little league, softball, soccer and multi-purpose fields.  Also planned are walking trails, parks and an abundance of open space.

What kinds of homes will be built on the property?

The effort to determine the types of homes to be developed on the property will be led by participating homebuilders. Architectural standards have been developed in close cooperation with the City of Henderson, which sees this project as a unique opportunity to create a distinctive sense of place to live, work and thrive.

There will be approximately 14,000 homes ranging from single family homes to apartments, condominiums and patio homes, providing a broad range of housing options and price ranges for the community.

Will the 2,200 acres be annexed into the city of Henderson?

The annexation process was completed at a public meeting held on January 23, 2006. The entire 2,200 acres now reside within the City of Henderson.

Does this project fall within the City of Henderson's Redevelopment District?

The land meets the critieria of a redevelopment area and is included in the City of Henderson's Redevelopment District. The LandWell Company is working closely with the City to ensure that the 2,200-acre project is aligned with the City's overall redevelopment objectives. The property taxes that will eventually be generated from this project will benefit not only the residents living within the 2,200 acres, but will bring new growth and renewal and investment to the entire area, with benefits for everyone to enjoy.

What measures are being taken to address environmental concerns?

The LandWell Company is committed to ensuring the entire property meets the most stringent environmental standards, as set by the United States EPA and the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection.

What government oversight is involved in developing this property?

The governmental agency with primary oversight responsibility and authority for the remediation project is the Division of Environmental Protection of the Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. The United States Environmental Protection Agency is also involved as an observer. The City of Henderson has primary responsibility and authority for approval of the master-planned development. Clark County and several other agencies of the State of Nevada are also involved in various aspects of the project.

Did you know?

Nevada Division of Environmental Protection is supervising Basic Remediation Company's remediation and restoration of the property.

Why is remediation necessary?

This site was once part of a larger complex, known as Basic Magnesium, which played a vital role in support of the U.S. victory in World War II. After the war ended, the complex was sold to the State of Nevada. Later, several manufacturing companies bought component parts of the huge Basic Magnesium plant. Although the 2,200 acres east of Boulder Highway being restored in this project were never used by the federal government or private companies for any industrial manufacturing, parts of the property have been used in the past for industrial and municipal evaporation ponds, leaving behind residual contaminants. These ponds which require remediation make up approximately 400 of the 2,200 acres of the property. Nearly two-thirds of the property has never had any industrial or municipal use.

It is worth noting none of the property for this project has ever been declared a superfund site. A superfund site is any land in the United States that has been contaminated by hazardous waste and identified by the EPA as a candidate for superfund listing because it poses a significant risk to human health and/or the environment. In fact, this property was specifically found by the EPA not to be a superfund site.

Not least, the ponds are an old eyesore. In removing them, a more attractive and aesthetically pleasing property will be created within Henderson.

What is the current status of the 2200 acres?

Basic Management, Inc. has been in business in the same location for 56 years and knows what is on its property. Because of the property's location, it has been the subject of intensive investigation for more than 20 years. More than 600,000 laboratory analyses on thousands of samples of soil and groundwater have been performed. These samples were analyzed for more than 500 compounds, hundreds of compounds more than what was ever manufactured anywhere in the area. All of this work is being overseen by the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection.

The removal of the contaminants is substantially complete with some additional amounts to be removed based on the test results of confirmation sampling. The majority of the contaminants that Basic Remediation Company removed are some form of salt. In fact, there are no hazardous wastes at the site as defined by the EPA. However, in places, the levels of contaminants exceed allowable thresholds as defined by the EPA and therefore needed to be removed. Although the contaminants were primarily present in 1 foot to 5 foot depths, all contaminated soils were physically removed from the site, not left in place and capped.

Who will be performing the remediation?

Basic Remediation Company has been leading the remediation effort with a team of experts and will continue in this role until the restoration is complete. Basic Remediation Company will carry out the plans agreed upon and approved by the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, which has oversight during the entire remediation process.

Basic Remediation Company hired Weston Solutions, Inc. to be the project's construction manager and assist with oversight.

Basic Remediation Company selected ENTACT as the project remediation contractor.  ENTACT was responsible for building a state-of the art 66-acre  Corrective Action Management Unit (CAMU), where contaminated soil from the 2,200-acre site has been safely interred.  ENTACT performed the remediation work under the close supervision of Basic Remediation Company , Weston Solutions and the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection.

Basic Remediation Company and the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, along with the City of Henderson have worked together to ensure the property is remediated to the standards that allow for residential development.

Basic Remediation Company's project manager is Dr. Ranajit (Ron) Sahu, Ph.D. Dr. Sahu received his doctorate from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and has more than 22 years of experience in the fields of environmental, mechanical and chemical engineering and has successfully executed more than 300 projects.  He has expertise in managing large remediation projects in more than 40 states, numerous local jurisdictions and internationally as well. He has comprehensive compliance experience encompassing all environmental study areas including air, water, solid and hazardous waste, mixed waste, noise and community involvement programs. Dr. Sahu is a Certified Environmental Manager (CEM) in the State of Nevada, a quality environmental planner as defined by the Institute of Professional Environmental Practice (IPEP), has authored numerous publications in the field of environmental engineering and holds positions as adjunct professor at UCLA and  Loyola Marymount University.

How long will this restoration process take and what's involved in the remediation process?

For any site this large, the remediation process is complex and involves a substantial amount of time and effort to complete. A substantial amount of the overall time required is actually spent in investigation, and this phase, has been on-going since 1991, and  was complete 2008. It was a very thorough process and no effort was spared. The engineering design of the remediation was completed and approved by the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection.

Basic Remediation Company substantially completed the actual physical remediation and restoration activities in 2010. Retesting of the land to insure it meets strict standards for development is in process. Basic Remediation Company will use a thorough and iterative process that involves multiple rounds of remediation as needed until the entire property meets the standards for residential development.

The remediation team will be using the EPA's methodologies and processes, and the property will be remediated to the highest standards fully consistent with EPA's methodology. the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection has oversight for the project and has been working closely with the Basic Remediation Company team since 1991 to ensure full compliance with all applicable environmental practices, regulations and procedures.

Throughout the entire restoration and development process, The LandWell Company will continue to ensure an open dialog with the community and other project stakeholders.