• $6 billion urban redevelopment project
• 10 million sq ft mixed use
• Centralized communication between stakeholders
• Improved tracking and control

Client

Newland Communities is America’s largest privately-held community developer, focused on creating residential and urban communities across the United States. Headquartered in San Diego, Newland currently has nearly 40 communities underway in 14 states.

Project

Symphony Park is a public-private urban redevelopment project developed by the city of Las Vegas and Newland Communities. When complete, it will be a $6 billion, 10 million square foot mixed-use community in downtown Las Vegas, and will act as a catalyst for further development in the downtown area. 

The development includes a planned: 

• 1.8 million sq ft of office, medical office, and commercial space 
• 100 residential units 
• 2 non-gaming hotels
• 1 casino/hotel
• 475,000 sq ft of retail space
• 379,000 sq ft The Smith Center for the Performing Arts

Challenges

Sam Gladstein, VP Operations at Newland Communities, found that the tools traditionally utilized for managing project information weren’t sufficient to handle a project of such scope.

Gladstein said, “We were using typical MS Office products and storing information on a shared drive. Before long there were just too many documents and too many folders, and no simple way to locate things at a moment’s notice. 

“The biggest problem, particularly when dealing with consultants and City representatives, is that everyone had their own system for managing data. The result was that time was being wasted and it was very frustrating. This is a real issue for us because at the end of the project we need to hand over data to the City.

He added, “Having gone through these frustrations and these cumbersome ways of keeping track of data, we came to a point where we needed a better way of managing things.”

Solution

 Newland Communities and the city of Las Vegas selected to implement the Aconex project collaboration system for the duration of the development.

Results

More control over data

Gladstein said, “As project managers, data control is everything. If we can’t control our data then we aren’t doing our job. With Aconex, its ease of use and the time savings it provides are fundamental. In particular, the ability to disseminate information to parties as quickly as possible is extremely valuable.”

“As project managers, data control is everything.”

Sam Gladstein, VP Operations at Newland Communities

Audit trail is crucial

“The audit trail is crucial during the project and is a highly efficient way for us to demonstrate and “prove up” our efforts to our client. As a business, we keep excellent records, but Aconex will make the process much easier.” said Gladstein. 

Centralized, streamlined communication

Gladstein added, “Aconex will help to link Newland’s efforts at Symphony Park with the City, consultants, lawyers and any other stakeholders. These days it’s all about being collaborative and instantaneous and so it’s essential to have effective systems like Aconex in place.”