Most landlords want to keep their tenants. Cherry Development managing partner Jason LeDell wants to help his move out.
The Las Vegas developer announced its new Path to Homeownership Program in April, setting aside $200 a month for participating residents of its three ShareDowntown apartment communities for a future down payment or closing costs on a home in Clark County. Eligible tenants include those who are now moving into the new 104-unit ShareWestside project, which opened June 17, and at existing buildings in the Arts District and Fremont East.
LeDell labels it a “first-of-its-kind” concept for a private developer. Indeed, it’s hard to find anything quite like it anywhere in the U.S. The idea was spurred a few years back, when he heard speakers at the Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority’s annual forum highlighting a federally backed program in which qualifying housing choice voucher holders can convert their rental subsidy toward a mortgage.
“I got a little bit emotional when I saw those people share their stories,” LeDell tells the Weekly. “We said, how can we incorporate this into what we do now? I was sure some other apartment communities were doing the same thing. I was wrong.”
LeDell and his team spent more than a year meeting with prospective partners who could support tenants through the process of buying a home with discounted services, credit counseling and mortgage guidance. They initially approached major financial institutions before a nonprofit suggested they pivot to the local lenders, businesses and attorneys who would ultimately sign on to help. The Housing Authority, Clark County and the City of Las Vegas also joined, allowing voucher holders to potentially stack their Cherry Development allotment with existing assistance programs.
LeDell calls it a “triple win”—for the residents, for the community that gains a homeowner and for Cherry Development, whose best advertising is a tenant who becomes a homeowner.
The company will transfer $200 into a dedicated account for participating tenants each month they pay rent. Contributions are capped at 24 months—$4,800 total—though participants can extend to a third year if they need more time for credit repair. Funds can be accessed after 12 months and must go toward a home purchase in Clark County. If a resident leaves without buying, their funds return to Cherry Development.
Las Vegas native Austin Littlefield is one of three tenants who have officially signed on, though both he and Cherry Development note that many more have expressed interest. He’d already been saving up for a down payment as far back as 2018, until COVID derailed those plans and prompted him to move into the 63-unit ShareDowntown Arts District property about two years ago.
When he first heard about the program, Littlefield initially thought he’d have to pay the installments himself. But a half-hour call with LeDell extinguished all doubts.
“He said, ‘No, we’re putting the money aside for you.’ It sounded perfect, because I’d been wanting to buy for a while,” Littlefield says. “Now, it’s kind of like all the stars have aligned.”
For him, the opportunity “moved the needle” on a goal that seemed to be getting further out of reach.
It comes at a time when Nevada’s 2025 homeownership rate of 59.1% trails all other states except New York, California and Hawaii, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. It fell from 61.5% in 2024, still well below the 2026 first-quarter national average of 65.3%. Southern Nevada’s median home price hit $490,000 in May, according to Las Vegas Realtors.
“We need home ownership in this city. Nobody can deny that,” LeDell says. “The vision is that they’ll have enough funds to not only pay all of their down payment and closing costs, but also keep their payment within 10% of what they’re currently paying in rent.”
Other developers were initially skeptical.
“They said, ‘Wait, you’re paying your residents to leave?’ That’s kind of where I came up with that triple win. I said, ‘I think you’re missing the point,’” LeDell says.
“Our goal is to have every apartment community here consider this as an option,” LeDell says. “It’s 100% doable. It’s just going to take some educating, and maybe even somebody coming through the program. I won’t name any names, but a major Valley developer has since reached out and is now considering something similar. The conversations are starting.”
As LeDell sees it, the proof of concept will come when the first resident cuts a ribbon at closing.
“Apartments don’t build communities. You need to have them, but it’s transient, and you need to build community along with that,” he says.
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