LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — New improvements are coming to the Historic Westside.
This summer, work begins on a project set to transform one of the valley's longest-standing affordable communities.
Marble Manor is an affordable public housing community made for families in between H Street, MLK Boulevard, Washington Avenue and McWilliams Avenue. It was created in 1953 with expansions in 1959, 1960 and 1962.
Dozens of families are now preparing to move out of this community. As I've previously reported, this is all part of a major project to help revitalize the area.
Streets lined with old, worn-down homes, some even boarded up, will soon be transformed into a new vibrant community filled with hope and beauty.
Toni Griffin, who has lived in Marble Manor for 13 years, tells me she thinks the new renderings look good.
Griffin has called this place home since 2012.
She says her place could use a face-lift.
“More space in my living room would be real nice," Griffin said. “The rooms are too close to each other.”
Now there is relief on the horizon.
In August, the Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority told me that work on this project is not expected to start until late 2025 or early 2026, but crews are ahead of schedule.
This summer, crews will start phase 1 of the project by destroying 56 of the 235 units, including Griffin's. This will make room for 138 brand-new homes.
The project will be completed in five phases.
Plans for phase 1 of the project were just approved during a Las Vegas City Council meeting January 15.
For a list of how many homes will be demolished, and then built back again, click here.
There will be a total of 627 new homes built.
PREVIOUS REPORT: New development looking to breathe new life into Las Vegas' Historic Westside
There will be 235 low-income units, 254 middle-income units, and 138 market-rate unrestricted units built through this project.
Before the new buildings emerge, Griffin and others in this first phase will need to pack up and move out by May.
“They’d just like me to get out as soon as possible, but we haven’t gotten our vouchers yet," Griffin said.
The Housing Authority says they will help the residents secure temporary housing, either in their other communities or through Section 8 housing.
Once the renovations are done, everyone will be welcomed back.
“The folks who are here now, as long as their income does not change what they pay doesn’t change," said Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority Executive Director Lewis Jordan.
I asked Griffin if she would move back to Marble Manor.
"If it looks like that yeah," Griffin said.
Griffin and her neighbors remain hopeful but cautious. After decades of waiting for a change, they're ready to see it come to fruition.
The entire project is expected to take seven to eight years to complete.
