[sammyglick]

Hey all,
nice to meet ya! I'm interested in the current status of the potential highway that apparently might run through the Sigfried and Roy estate that's in one of the older areas of Vegas....this is related to the Mountain Edge Parkway plans of doing a "northern realignment" and taking property thru eminent domain which had some owners very upset according to an article from 2007. The original plans of the Focus Group who run Mountain's Edge hadn't included this highway through this neighborhood but through some influence or other they apparently got it approved. Of course, with all the foreclosures, etc. maybe that won't come to pass just like other elements of Mountain's Edge are obviously not happening.

Now that S&R are no longer in business, what's gonna happen with that parcel? They own quite a lot of acres right in the middle of a fairly regular residential area. Anybody have some info on that? I'm interested in all things "vintage" Vegas and especially the history of the town. Thanks!

[Buzz123]

If you're talking about the original Siegfried and Roy compound on Vegas Drive near Decatur (and west of Rancho Road), that's a long way from Mountain Edge which is in the south of town, and fairly new. They lived off of Vegas Drive for a long time and kept quite a few of their animals there, but they later separated as a couple from what I hear, and I understand at least Roy moved south and west. So it may be a newer property that you're hearing about. Don't know their domestic status now but it looks like Siegfried has been taking care of Roy since the accident if news stories mean anything.

I don't know any details of Mountains Edge Parkway, but the area is so new I can't imagine eminent domain being a factor. But there were a few ranches and custom homes out there before any real development started so maybe some old timers are getting the shaft from the "progress".

On the far north end of town, at the base of the mountains that run from U.S. 95 N to U.S. 93 N, there has been a battle to preserve Tule Springs, and create an Ice Age National Park. The powers that be wanted to run another east-west major artery through there and there has been a big fight about it.

I've been on the side of these folks for a while. Tule Springs Ice Age Park

[sammyglick]

Hmm, not sure if they're referring to the original compound near Vegas Drive or not. Below I've included a portion of the 2007 article, so maybe they are referring to a different piece of land than the Vegas Drive area. If you do a search, parcels of land/homes or whatever it is around the original compound are shown as being owned by Rancho Drive LLC....which is the entity mentioned in this article. and that's why I thought they were referring to the original compound area. But as you say, Mountains Edge is a ways from that 89108 zip where the original compound is, correct?
I also couldn't see where a "highway" would cut through that area off Vegas Drive, so maybe they are referring to another piece of property owned by S&R. Whatever is going on, eminent domain is somehow involved because Focus wants to cut through other people's property to put in this highway which was originally going a different direction but they ran into design problems and apparently got approval to route it differently. You can google this article and read the whole thing if you want (sorry, tried pasting the link and my browser wouldn't paste it).....just curious if anyone knows the current status of this or to confirm that it is indeed a different parcel of S&R land that is being referred to and not their original Vegas Drive compound....I would hate to see that lost or chopped up, it's a cool looking place with some neat vintage and older homes scattered throughout there....
Landowner vs. landowner


By Steve Kanigher (contact)
Friday, May 25, 2007 | 7:24 a.m.
When the Focus Property Group bought 1,712 acres in northwest Las Vegas in 2005, it did so with the knowledge that a road was to cut through the property.
Similarly, when other owners, including iconic Las Vegas entertainers Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn, bought land to the north in recent years, they did so knowing that the proposed Mountain Edge Parkway would be near - but not on - their property.
Last week, all that changed when the Las Vegas City Council approved Focus' plan for a 16,000-home master-planned community and possible high-rise casino. In so doing, the council shifted the planned highway route from the middle of the Focus site to its northern and western edges - a configuration that will take the road through nearby property owners' land.

[Buzz123]

I can't find the article you refer to, but my guess is that it all went away with the crash. From the excerpt it looks like it's just property people speculated on in the NW, and no where near the old compound on Vegas Dr. Serves them right anyway. When Hughes bought up all that land for ...what? 10 cents an acre or some ridiculous amount? ...there was supposed to be a buffer zone keeping developers away from the mountains to the west. Never been a big fan of the "growth" of the past 20 years. To me an invasion isn't progress, it's destructive. You've gotta move forward, yes, or else you'll go into decline, but 20 years ago you would never have all of these negative remarks that you get on this forum. You seldom talked to people who didn't think this was the best place on earth. Now and then you'd meet a someone who would complain about the town, but there are those who complain about everything.

[sammyglick]

Thanks for your take on this....if you type in "Rancho Drive LLC" in your browser, it should pull up the Las Vegas Sun article. I'm sure you're right, it must be some land that S&R bought that's not related to their original Vegas compound. Interesting about Hughes buying up the land for so cheap! and that it was supposed to be a buffer zone. I agree, the growth is out of control. I wonder what S&R have on the land in the north area? Is it another compound? Whatever it is, they and other property owners were gearing up to aggressively fight Focus about moving the highway and using eminent domain as an excuse to grab land and homes with the usual "we'll pay you fair market value" routine.

On another note, in your opinion, what do you think is the future of the original S&R compound? As other observers of vintage Vegas have pointed out, it seems to have sprung from a fairly ordinary middle class area of ranch style homes (although there are some very nice properties sprinkled around in there). I've seen photos of the compound but never driven past it. Will it end up being turned into something else? And if so, what? I wouldn't think someone with enough $$ to buy it would ever actually use it as a private residence....the surrounding area, while not that bad, isn't the greatest in certain spots so a wealthy person is gonna go to the really posh areas and not live in the "Jungle Palace". It's just one of those odd properties that's out of place and seems a likely candidate to end up being used for something equally odd in the future that perhaps doesn't fit with the neighborhood or worse, deteriorates until it becomes a blight. For now, it's cool looking from pics I've seen, but curious as to what the future holds for the "compound". Thanks, and good luck also with your work on the Tule Springs project also, looks interesting. I'm a big fan of preserving the history of communities, it's about quality of life, not just how many houses can be built in how many square feet. It's awful that things can't be as they were 20 yrs ago when people DID think Vegas was the greatest place on earth. Hope it can and will be again!