Grand opening of Hafen Village

By VERNON ROBISON

The Progress

It was a party atmosphere at the Hafen Village Apartment complex in Mesquite last week as city, county, state and federal officials gathered to celebrate the opening of Mesquite’s newest low-income housing project.

A crowd of more than 100 people packed into the spacious great room of the new clubhouse at the complex on Tuesday morning, April 23 for the beginning of the grand opening celebration.
Nevada Rural Housing executive director Bill Brewer welcomed the attendees to the event, emphasizing that the project had taken a collaborative effort among a multitude of people and organizations to become a reality.
“A lot has happened behind the scenes before this ever came together,” Brewer said.

He credited the Mesquite City Council, and specifically former council member George Gault, for unflagging support in the project. This included the donation of the 4.8 acre parcel for the project and the manpower in doing the significant dirtwork to prepare the ground.

In addition a Who’s Who of various entities were integral to the development, Brewer said.
“It takes a lot of people to make something like this,” Brewer said. “And the secret ingredient behind it all is to serve people. We are not here to make a buck or to erect buildings. We are here to serve the people of Mesquite.”

Rep. Steven Horsford, D-NV, was in attendance for the event and spoke about Hafen Village being an example for other housing projects in the state.
“This is more than just housing,” he told the crowd. “It is a sense of dignity and an opportunity for people who will call this community home. Let’s make this a model for more housing throughout Nevada. Because everyone deserves to have a home.”

Also in attendance were Hector Lizaola from the office of Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto; and Mahalia Jaramillo, representing Sen. Jacky Rosen. Each of these took a few moments and presented Congressional Certificates of Recognition to Brewer in celebration of the project’s opening.

Mesquite Mayor Al Litman spoke briefly expressing his excitement that the project had finally come to fruition.

He reminisced about the groundbreaking of the project which took place on a cold day in 2022. At that time, the property needed a lot of earthwork done to prepare for development, he said.
“I remember looking around the property and seeing basically this huge hole in the ground here,” Litman said. “I thought to myself, ‘This can be done, but I really don’t know how they are going to do it.’ But look at it today!”

Litman talked about the extreme shortage of affordable housing in the community and how much housing demand there is to fill in Mesquite. “All we have to do now is to duplicate this effort about three more times over,” he said to laughter from the audience. “But it is going to happen, I guarantee you, it’s going to happen.”

After the ceremony, attendees could take a tour of some of the apartment units and other amenities at the complex.

The 96-unit project is the largest to date built by Nevada Rural Housing. It offers 1, 2 and 3-bedroom units ranging from 688 to 1,176 sq ft.. The units feature patios or balconies, attractive kitchens and baths, beautiful flooring, extra storage space and air conditioning.

The common spaces offer picnic areas, a dog park, a community garden, children’s playground, computer lab, library, laundry room, fitness facility and entertaining space with kitchen.

New resident June Jones just moved into a 1-bedroom apartment at Hafen Village on Saturday, April 13. She moved to the community from Las Vegas where she had lived in low-income apartment housing. She was pleased to be in Mesquite.
“I was so ready to get out of Las Vegas,” Jones said. “It is so peaceful here and quiet. I don’t have to worry about traffic or crime or overcrowding. I’m just so glad to be here.”

Hafen Village will serve working families at or below 50 percent of area median income. In addition to a rent subsidy, all utilities are included and residents receive a paid card to use the laundry room without cost to them.

According to Emily Stroman of Bluebird Property Management, a subsidiary of Nevada Rural Housing which leases and manages the property, Hafen Village already has people signed up for every unit. What’s more, the complex has a 1-3 year waiting list of would-be residents.
“I think that really shows how much demand there is for this type of housing in the market out there,” Stroman said.

She added that the rental office works hard to lead people through the process of showing their eligibility for the housing.

She said that the process starts with an application which can be obtained at the rental office on site, or through an email request sent to her at hafenvillage@bluebirdnevada.com. Additional information can also be obtained by calling the complex at 702-702-4418.

“This is an excellent model for what we need to be doing throughout the state, particularly in rural communities,” said Rep. Horsford in an interview with The Progress after touring the facility. “These are things that are desperately needed. We need more supply and we can’t bring down costs unless we have that supply. It is examples like this in Mesquite that will help lead to what we can do in other communities throughout Nevada.”

Hafen Village is located at 850 W. Hafen Lane, just west of the First Baptist Church and the Veterans Center.