Plise Companies

Southwest Contractor’s 2007
Las Vegas Developer of the Year

By Tony Illia

Southwest Contractor has named Plise Companies as its 2007 Las Vegas Developer of the Year. Plise’s past and current developments total more than 5 million sq ft, specializing in retail, office, healthcare and industrial facilities.

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William “Bill” Plise found inspiration at a young age,  spending hours building elaborate, imaginative structures with an erector set.

Not surprisingly, the Las Vegas native began working in construction at age 18, and he eventually started his own contracting business. Plise built homes but soon branched into industrial, office and retail buildings.  

When he grew restless building things for others, Plise expanded into commercial development and founded Plise Development & Construction LLC in 1994. 

Plise later incorporated design, construction management, property management and leasing into the equation.

“Being fully integrated allows us to better manage quality control from concept to completion,” says Plise, now the firm’s CEO. “It allows us to keep a high level of quality and value at our properties, while maintaining good tenant relations.”

Plise Cos., the umbrella parent firm, has developed more than 2 million sq ft of commercial properties throughout the Las Vegas Valley, with another 3 million sq ft currently under construction. These projects include award-winning office parks, retail centers, healthcare facilities, light industrial facilities and mixed-use centers.

Rainbow Sunset Pavilion

Rainbow Sunset Pavilion, for example, is a 547,000-sq-ft mixed-use complex in southwest Las Vegas, next to the Interstate 215 Beltway. The center combines 452,000 sq ft of offices with 95,000 sq ft of retail space on 25 acres at Rainbow Boulevard and Sunset Road. The development has a six-story and two four-story office buildings, with steel-framed structures clad in EIFS, glass and stone.

Las Vegas-based Boyd Gaming bought a four-story, 110,000-sq-ft office building inside Rainbow Sunset Pavilion for $26 million, or $236 per sq ft., from Plise. It now serves as Boyd’s corporate headquarters, housing 300 employees. The purchase also included a three-level parking structure.

“This is an incredible environment here for legal, gaming, financial institutions,” says Blake Cumbers, Boyd’s vice president of development. “It’s got great amenities, retail and dining tenants, and you can walk to those amenities.”

Designed by Vedelago Petsch Architects of Las Vegas, the development has nine retail buildings with such tenants as Town & Country Bank, Nevada Federal Credit Union, Starbucks, Farmers Insurance and restaurants.

Sunset Rainbow Pavilion is scheduled to reach build-out later this year. Plise Development & Construction is the contractor for the center near the 1,500-acre Rhodes Ranch master-planned community and Hospital Corp. of America ‘s 130-bed Southern Hills Hospital.

“This is a high-end, versatile project designed to meet the growing needs of businesses and residents in the area,” says Jon Field, Plise’s associate general counsel. “There are currently over 20,000 new homes under construction within a 5-mi radius of Rainbow Sunset Pavilion.”

“Plise has a reputation for going the extra step in building an upscale, attractive project,” says Michael Kammerling, retail senior vice president with commercial real estate firm Grubb & Ellis. “Their projects are well designed and eagerly sought after. They typically make a nice compliment to a neighborhood.”

Centennial Corporate Center

Centennial Corporate Center similarly creates a mixed-use business environment. The 143,166-sq-ft complex is located at U.S. Highway 95 and Ann Road in the northwest valley. Designed by SH Architecture, Las Vegas, the business park consists of a five-story, 125,954-sq-ft Class-A office building, with a three-story, 529-space parking structure. There is also a 6,000-sq-ft bank pad and 11,212 sq ft of retail, which includes Starbucks, a smoothie shop and a salon and spa.

“Plise creates very nice properties that are very much needed in our community,” says Randy Broadhead, CB Richard Ellis’ senior vice president of office properties. “Their projects have good locations and are well thought-out and well amenitized. They do a first class job.”

Built by Plise Development & Construction, the 8.3-acre center consists of a steel-framed building clad in textured stone veneer, glass and smooth metal panels.

“The park has a unique, professional atmosphere with a traffic count in excess of 50,000 vehicles per day and growing,” says Mitchell Stipp, Plise’s chief operating officer and general counsel. “It’s a smart growth project that combines office with retail for a better, more efficient land use.”

City Crossing

City Crossing, the company’s most ambitious project to date, also utilizes a smart-growth strategy. The 126-acre development calls for 1 million sq ft of office space, 600,000 sq ft of retail shops and 2,500 residential units.

Infrastructure work on the $2 billion project, which was designed by Orange, Calif.-based Architects Orange, is currently underway at St. Rose Parkway and Executive Airport Drive in Henderson. Vertical construction is expected to begin in early 2008.

The first phase will contain two office towers; seven retail buildings totaling 100,000 sq-ft; and a 180-unit, five-story residential building with retail below. There will also be a six-story, 160-room boutique hotel, a 9,000-sq-ft tavern and three to four restaurants.

The first 50-acre phase is expected to finish by September 2009. It will be followed by a combination of lifestyle and entertainment space with outdoor plazas and ample landscaping.

“It maximizes land use efficiency, while crafting a high-use, pedestrian-friendly environment that places less strain on public infrastructure,” says Plise. “The market is demanding more of these types of projects as land becomes increasingly scarce and the culture moves toward urban neighborhoods.

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