Nearly 400 affordable apartments are headed to a stretch of empty desert in west Henderson after the city council voted Tuesday to approve Casara at West Henderson, a 390-unit complex aimed at lower-income renters. The project will sit on close to 19 acres at the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Larson Lane, with units reserved for residents earning 60% or less of Clark County's median income.
The approval clears the way for Ovation Homes to move forward on the development, according to KTNV Las Vegas. Ovation Homes said it will only approve applications from people earning 60% or less of Clark County's average median income, which the outlet reports is roughly $80,000, meaning eligible residents could earn up to about $48,000 a year. The complex is expected to offer one-, two- and three-bedroom units, though applications won't open until around mid-2028.
Henderson resident Lucy Remus voiced support for the project, telling the station it could help people in Henderson get into a home. She said the development could make a real difference for people needing housing, if it's done right — even though, by her own account, she wouldn't qualify to live there herself.
A Years-Long Path to Approval
The project has been in the works for a while. Back in May 2024, Ovation Development Corporation and Coordinated Living of Southern Nevada were awarded two Clark County Community Housing Fund grants totaling $21.9 million, according to The Warren Group. That funding package, which Multi-Housing News also reported supports construction of the 390 units for low-income working families in west Henderson, tied the project to land the Warren Group described as Bureau of Land Management property near South Las Vegas Boulevard and East Larson Lane.
The timeline has shifted along the way. Those earlier 2024 project materials anticipated construction beginning at the end of 2025 or in the first half of 2026, per the Warren Group's reporting, while this week's KTNV report says the site is now expected to be under construction by the holidays. A public notice in Las Vegas Review-Journal legal listings separately identified a standard development agreement, Bill No. 3938, tied to Casara at West Henderson Affordable.
Part of a Larger Affordable Housing Push
Casara is one piece of a broader Ovation pipeline. The developer said in 2024 that seven additional projects in planning or under construction were expected to add 1,500 affordable residences by early 2028, per the Warren Group. That expansion comes against the backdrop of a steep shortfall: the Community Housing Fund announcement cited an estimated shortage of nearly 85,000 affordable homes for extremely low-income renters across Southern Nevada. Clark County created the Community Housing Fund in 2022 specifically to help close that gap.
Other affordable developments have moved through the pipeline around the same time. Sunrise Ranch Apartments broke ground in March 2025 at South Broadbent Boulevard and Boulder Highway in Henderson, according to Nevada HAND, and will bring 144 units to the area, including up to 60 set aside for young adults transitioning from foster care with support from Clark County Social Services' Step Up program. That project drew financial commitments of $32.58 million from the Nevada Housing Division, $13.1 million from Clark County, $4.99 million from Henderson and $1 million from Las Vegas, and is expected to be ready for lease in late 2026.
Elsewhere in the valley, two other developments named for civil rights leaders, Beals-Henderson Pointe and Gholson Landing, were expected to deliver a combined 201 affordable apartment homes, as reported by FOX5 Vegas. Beals-Henderson Pointe includes 80 apartments and Gholson Landing includes 121 units, serving households earning between 30% and 80% of area median income through a public-private partnership with The Michaels Organization.
How the Financing Works
Much of this activity flows through overlapping layers of public financing. Clark County and the City of North Las Vegas use their private activity bonds to support affordable multifamily housing, and federal HOME funds are routinely paired with Nevada's Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, according to a Clark County action plan document. The Nevada Housing Division administers that tax credit program and, as the state's housing credit agency, is required to adopt a plan describing how housing credits get allocated.
For now, west Henderson residents watching the empty lot at Las Vegas Boulevard and Larson Lane will have to wait. Construction timing remains in flux between earlier projections and this week's holiday-season estimate, and prospective tenants won't be able to apply until Ovation Homes opens the process around mid-2028.
