Las Vegas design-led development firm Blue Heron debuts luxe lakeside living at Velaris at The Island with coveted homesites and a remarkable new show home.
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF BLUE HERON
Lake Las Vegas is growing with the addition of Velaris at The Island, luxury development firm Blue Heron’s newest offering in its already impressive portfolio of Lake Las Vegas communities. Situated on the ultra-private, exclusive north shore of Lake Las Vegas, Velaris is a double-gated community with three striking floor plans (including two new single-story plans) across 41 homesites—23 of which are waterfront properties. We sat down with Chris Beucler, president of Blue Heron Nexus, the firm’s community division, ahead of the show home’s grand opening for all the exciting details on the new community.
Tell us about Blue Heron’s Lake Las Vegas communities.
Beyond Velaris, we also have Arvada, Strata, Caliza and Shoreline. So we have a big presence in Lake Las Vegas. Then we have five other communities scattered about the balance of the Las Vegas metropolitan area. We will be expanding into Park City, Utah, and that area, in Heber.
How does Velaris differ from other Lake Las Vegas communities?
Velaris and Arvada are on The Island. … And what separates Velaris and Arvada from the balance of Lake Las Vegas is it's truly island living, and it's a very exclusive community. Currently, it has Velaris, Arvada and their custom lots. So Blue Heron can build on those custom lots, and we welcome the opportunity for buyers to do that. But it's all exclusive to The Island. This is the creme de la creme of Lake Las Vegas, where you have a double-gated, private community and really beautiful settings. There's going to be comfort stations built in here, so when people are walking around, they can [use those]. The other thing that's a big separator is at Velaris and Arvada both, you can have docks. So you can go directly from your home out to the activities that are on the lake. Your paddleboard, your little Jiffy boat—you can do that directly from your home; you're not having to launch somewhere. So that's a big separator. And it's Lake Las Vegas' newest offering too, so you're getting the latest products, the best products.
Is The Island its own entity separate from the rest of Lake Las Vegas?
That's the big separator. If you're in Lake Las Vegas and you live in another community up on the hill, you're not coming into The Island. Now, keep in mind that [by living in] Lake Las Vegas, you're going to have a master association, and then you're going to have what are called sub-associations, so The Island has its own sub-association. But the beauty is you still have access to the golf courses. You still have access to the sports club. You still have access to all the other amenities within Lake Las Vegas. It's just that you have your own exclusive area in which you live.
What other amenities will be available? You mentioned the comfort stations.
What we're doing is we're creating these little pocket areas. We have sidewalks, but we didn't necessarily create walking trails because we feel that being a double-gated community, people will utilize the street. One of the things that you would see in Lake Las Vegas is a lot of people use golf carts. It's how they drive around; they can drive down to the village. So we created these little rest areas along spots that look out to the lake and so forth. And then at the end of Arvada, there's going to be a comfort station where people can go in and grab something cold and something to eat. … So we thought, let's add an extra layer. I think homeowners would think that's a cool perk.
Are the amenities exclusive to the Blue Heron communities?
The Island communities share their amenities. The other ones share the amenities of Lake Las Vegas. … A good way to think about it is the amenity of The Island is the waterfront. So that's the big difference. [Other Lake Las Vegas] houses may catch a view of the waterfront, but they’re not sitting on the waterfront. … That's been one of the big appeals here. We get a lot of interest out of California. And the reason they like it is that there's no other place, really—except for some very old communities—where there's water in Las Vegas. And because of the new water restrictions, they know there's not going to be any more. So it's like, this is it. And besides that, it's a beautiful community, and it's getting more beautiful as it matures.
Who is the Velaris homeowner? What are they looking for?
Mostly our homeowners are mature in their life. And when I say mature, they can be in their 50s and up. … COVID has made it really easy for people to work from home. Our homes are designed so that you can work from home. And then it's the people who are looking for a resort lifestyle, but close to the great metropolitan area that they have in Las Vegas. … This is an interesting community. If you were to come out early in the morning, there's more walkers than you'll find anywhere else. So for them, it's a resort lifestyle. There are areas of Summerlin that kind of feel that same way, but they don't have water. I think that's the main draw.
Tell us what makes the Velaris show home unique.
This is the first time that Atelier, our design studio, has put a show home together for us. They really were able to take the vision that we had and put it in front of you. And what I mean by that is you're going to see, for lack of better explanation, more of a California beachy vibe throughout, not dark and moody. It's light, it's bright. It's also the first time in any of our show homes where we're featuring fine art. And what it does is it elevates the experience and you feel really good about what you're seeing because you're combining the best in architecture with the best in art, with the best in furnishings. … We have what we call in our business unique selling propositions. And one of our most unique selling propositions is everything that you see in this home, when you walk through it, you can get through us, including the fine art. Most show homes, model homes, you're going to walk in and you're going to see a list of exclusions. … And that's really been a unique selling proposition for us at Blue Heron, because we can tell people, other than your clothes and your toiletries, we can cover you. And we do that. If you think about it, if it's a second home for you, how nice is it that you can purchase the home and it can be completely finished, including everything you see outside. We do that as well; most builders don't do that. So when you add those key components, it really is a big differentiator for Blue Heron.
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