Toya Simon, named 2027 president of Commercial Alliance Las Vegas, says the market is resilient but land is scarce

What happened

Toya Simon has been named the 2027 president of Commercial Alliance Las Vegas, known as CALV, the commercial real estate branch of Las Vegas Realtors. The Las Vegas Sun reported that the organization announced her appointment this month, along with its other officers and directors for 2027.

In a Spanish-language interview published by the Sun, Simon described the Southern Nevada commercial market as resilient, while pointing to limited land supply and the role of federal land ownership as major challenges. She also discussed data centers, which she called one of the hot topics in the industry right now.

Who Toya Simon is

From salon owner to land specialist

According to the Sun, Simon got her start in commercial real estate as an entrepreneur. She searched for sites, evaluated properties and negotiated space for the beauty salons and barbershops she owned and ran. She told the Sun that experience taught her real estate can be the foundation of a business and a path to long-term wealth.

Today she works with investors, business owners, buyers and sellers, with a focus on land investment properties, the Sun reported.

Past leadership roles

The Sun reported that Simon has served CALV as a director, treasurer and president-elect, and has sat on the board of Nevada Realtors. She has chaired the diversity committee of Las Vegas Realtors, served on its finance committee and led a Nevada real estate brokers association, where she supported housing access, education, community involvement and economic opportunity.

Her goals for CALV

Simon told the Sun she wants CALV to be a place where the region's commercial real estate community comes to learn, connect, find resources, build relationships and do business. The group holds an annual education symposium and a spring networking event.

She said CALV is expanding its educational offerings, designed for commercial real estate professionals and taught by industry experts. Her aim, she said, is training that is practical and tied to current market conditions so members can apply it to their businesses. She added that CALV works with Las Vegas Realtors and other local groups to help shape public policy and protect private property rights.

How she sees the local market

Different conditions by property type

Simon told the Sun the commercial market is not a single market, and that office, industrial, retail, multifamily and land each have their own conditions. She said office has held steadier than many expected, while industrial went through a tremendous expansion and is now normalizing. Retail remains relatively solid, especially in well-located areas, she said. More local coverage is available in our real estate section.

Land prices and federal ownership

The land market continues to be shaped by limited supply, Simon said, and she called land availability one of Southern Nevada's most important long-term challenges. Many of her clients are seeing land prices climb quickly, she told the Sun.

She pointed to federal control of much of Nevada's land as a challenge unique to the state, saying the government can be slow to make suitable parcels available to private developers. She said solving that requires careful collaboration among government, the community and industry leaders.

Data centers and growth

Simon said demand for data centers will only grow as technology expands, and that each proposed project should be evaluated carefully. She listed location, needed infrastructure, water and energy use, economic benefits and long-term effects on nearby communities as factors, and said she keeps an open position. Growth, she told the Sun, should be strategic, transparent, responsible and sustainable. For more on regional projects, see our development coverage.

She also cited Strip expansion involving the Hard Rock Hotel, the A's and talk of an NBA team as signs that people continue to invest in Las Vegas.

What to watch next

• Simon's term as CALV president for 2027, alongside the other officers and directors the group announced this month.
• The expanded education offerings CALV says it is developing for commercial real estate professionals.
• How proposed data center projects in Southern Nevada are evaluated, which Simon said is a major topic of community discussion.
• Whether more federally controlled land is made available to private developers, an issue Simon called a long-term challenge.