Condo News Highlights

As president of Royal Construction Co. and
Spinnaker Homes, the builder of countless singlefamily
residential projects and developer of the
current Echelon at Centennial Hills, Stephen B.
Aizenberg has left quite the imprint on the growth
of Southern Nevada and northwest Las Vegas.
But the project he seems most proud of isn't a
vast sea of homes in one of those residential
subdivisions, nor is it an upscale, modern
townhome building at Echelon. It's the one he built
to give back to the community, a place he visits
frequently to get what he calls his "Centennial
Academy fix."

Aizenberg founded the 37,000-square-foot private
school for kids in sixth grade and younger at 6610
Grand Montecito Parkway five years ago. When
he's not overseeing a real estate project -- or
checking on his interests around Nevada and
California in his own helicopter, as flying is another
passion -- Aizenberg might be found supervising
lunchtime or a reading session in the library with
the school's mascot, Harvey the rabbit.
"Being around these kids just warms my heart,"
he said. "I'm very grateful to be able to do
something for the community, something that has been so well received. I
have many business associates, local subcontractors and others who have
sent their children here, and they just come back with the most glowing
accolades. The teachers here are angelic, the entire staff is just marvelous.
It's really a family here."

Centennial Academy was designed with the community's interests in mind,
he said. While it is a private school and it's not free, tuition rates are
constantly reviewed in order to accommodate families of varying financial
status. And the school is not tied to any religious affiliation in an effort to
welcome all comers.

"Las Vegas is really a melting pot, and this school personifies that,"
Aizenberg said.

With over 20 classrooms equipped with closed-circuit TV, a computer lab, a
large multipurpose room with a commercial kitchen and three separate ageappropriate
playgrounds, Centennial Academy certainly is not the typical
education experience for young children, Aizenberg said. The toddler
program handles ages 15 months to 2 years, the preschool program hosts 3-
and 4-year-olds, and the lower school program accommodates kids in
grades K-6.

"I'm asked sometimes, 'why a school?' and the answer is, I wanted to give
something back to the community that gave so much to me," Aizenberg
said. "And it has been equally warm and fuzzy for the neighborhood. It was
fate, and it was the right thing to do.
"But when I came to Las Vegas, I was crippled financially. There was no
(market) in California. I had built here before, but I decided to uproot my
entire company from Sacramento because I had been humbled by the
economy there."

After graduating from the University of Pacific in Stockton, Calif., in 1966,
Aizenberg worked for six years with Central Valley National Bank in Oakland,
which eventually led to a position as vice president of construction for
Greater Sierra Construction, a partnership with the bank. There he
supervised the construction of apartment complexes and other projects
through California, Nevada and Arizona.

Starting in the late 1970s, Aizenberg began developing his own Royal
Construction Co., which expanded beyond apartments into single-family
home development, still centralized in Northern California.
The economic doldrums of the first Gulf War in the early '90s is what
sparked his company's shift to Southern Nevada, and early successes in the
northwest part of Las Vegas helped maintain his interest in the area to this
day.

"We've always been partial to the northwest, having had an extensive
presence here for 10 years or so," said Aizenberg, a resident of Summerlin.
"There was Spring Mountain Ranch, then we bought Appaloosa Canyon.
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We've enjoyed being engaged with the Centennial area. When I first bought
property in this area, many of my colleagues thought I was crazy and told
me I couldn't build houses here. I wish I could buy land at those prices
today."

While he has played a major role in the growth of the area, even Aizenberg
has been surprised at the bustling development in Centennial Hills.
"The northwest has surprised me. This is going to be the center of Las
Vegas, as a residential hub," he said. "When you look at what the Beltway
has done, making it so easy to get around, and now having the hospital right
around the corner from the school ... there are so many things going on."
Rochelle Wilson, Aizenberg's wife and business partner and general counsel
for Centennial Academy, said the steady growth in the area has enhanced
the quality of life for her neighbors and the families that call the school
home.

"Any kind of asset that improves our lives, be it education or a neighborhood
business, it benefits us all," Wilson said. "Our vision for the school has
always been to provide the best education and still make it viable for many
families, and fortunately we've seen growth at the school as the community
around us thrives."

Aizenberg also has turned his hobby of flying into a business tool. He earned
his student's license in 1969 when he was being sent by plane to check on
his employer's various projects, spread out among several states. In an
effort to save time, he started flying himself around, and in 1991 he started
flying helicopters.

Now, he operates Desert Aviation Services Inc. out of the North Las Vegas
Airport on West Cheyenne Avenue.
"It used to take quite a while to get out there and check on every project we
had going on," he said. "Now, we can do it by helicopter in one day."