LAS VEGAS, Nov. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Union Park, a $6 billion, 11-million-square-foot, mixed-use project under development in the heart of downtown Las Vegas on land owned by the City of Las Vegas, is the only project in the state of Nevada to be accepted into the LEED for Neighborhood Development national pilot program. The program, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), is creating a rating system that integrates the principles of smart growth, urbanism, and green building into the first national rating system for neighborhood design. The program is a collaboration between the U.S. Green Building Council, the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU), and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). "We are pleased to be a part of the LEED for Neighborhood Development pilot program, particularly as the only Las Vegas project announced to date," said Scott Adams, director of the Office of Business Development for the City of Las Vegas. "Union Park is a development whose time has come in Las Vegas," he said. "It is playing a central role in the revitalization of downtown Las Vegas and by embracing environmentally sound development practices, is forging new ground for 'green' neighborhood development in our valley." According to Rita Brandin, senior vice president and development director for Newland Communities, the national real estate development firm retained by the City of Las Vegas to act as development manager for Union Park, the 11-million-square-foot, mixed-use project is creating an in-town culture, entertainment, working and living environment on currently unused railroad lands. "Not only will Union Park embrace environmentally sensitive development practices going forward, it embodies the very essence of land recycling by transforming a fallow brownfield site into a vibrant community."
