A Las Vegas businessman who has been purchasing property in Mohave County since 2005 is moving forward with proposed development of a master-planned community about 25 miles south of Hoover Dam and the southern Nevada border. County officials are processing requests for the Entrata project envisioned by Al Barbarich.

​

“`Entrata’ is the Italian word for entrance and we see this as an entrance into Arizona,” Barbarich said. “It’s the first private land that you come to entering Arizona from Nevada.”

​

The County Planning and Zoning Commission in Oct. will consider the major plan amendment and associated multiple rezoning requests submitted by Entrata agent and applicant Kathy Tackett-Hicks of Kingman.

​

“The project includes over 10,000 acres and there’s a mix of manufacturing, industrial, residential and airport components as well,” Tackett-Hicks said. “It is designed to be a huge economic revenue enhancer for the county and the region, and we’re really excited about it.”

Tackett-Hicks said engineers are already engaged in design activity for infrastructure for the endeavor near the community of White Hills. Improvement of a 9,000-ft. dirt airstrip and development of a business park encompassing about 2,000 acres would follow.

“The first projection for any type of vertical development we think will occur in the next 2-3 years and it is going to be focused on the airpark and industrial manufacturing use directly adjacent to (US) 93,” Tackett-Hicks said.

​

Significant residential construction and development of school, fire service, park and recreation components and other amenities are in the mix to support an all-encompassing community.

​

“We want this to be a live, work and learn community which is self-contained, and that’s why we’re focused a lot, especially in the early phases, on the economic drivers,” Barbarich said. “I think the more immediate demand is for regional logistics, manufacturing and warehouse distribution-type uses.”

​

He said multiple decades of development could someday result in as many as 30,000 homes and some 75,000 residents.

“I’m here for the long haul. I expect to be working, developing in Mohave County for the rest of my career, if not my life, and I’ve been doing business in Mohave County for 18 years,” Barbarich said.

​

He noted that his debt-free ownership of the property increases the chance for Entrata’s success, unlike a number of other failed master planned communities doomed by debt service and a fluctuating economy.

​

“I am not financing this with other people’s money. The property that I’ve purchased is all debt free,” Barbarich said. “I’m funding all of the development costs out of my pocket.”

​

Barbarich says the success of the Apex Industrial Park in north Las Vegas that was detailed in a recent Las Vegas Review Journal article bodes well for his project.

​

“We think that Entrata is very well positioned to compete with Apex,” Barbarich said. “We’re confident we can bring lots of jobs, opportunity and economic development to Mohave County.”

​

District 4 Mohave County supervisor Jean Bishop said she is excited about the project, particularly the plan to develop the airpark for commercial cargo use.

​

“Al Barbarich has the money. He’s young and he’ll be able to see this through,” Bishop said. “He’s got longevity on his side and plenty of enthusiasm.”

​

Tackett-Hicks said the Entrata team has been working with the Arizona Department of Water Resources to prove the 100-year water supply required for the project. She said the County Planning and Zoning Commission will consider Entrata requests at its Oct. 11 meeting and that approval by the Board of Supervisors could come in Nov. or Dec.

​

Original Source: https://www.kdminer.com/news/10-000-acre-master-planned-community-in-the-works-near-az-nevada-border/article_c8be4a1e-49f9-11ee-8553-7323f8cf9f48.html