Major project eyed for UP site

Thursday, Aug. 21, 1997 | 10:06 a.m.

When word came nine years ago that the Union Pacific Railroad was going to phase out its rail yard, there were visions of a gaming paradise for the area.

One artist's rendering showed a maze of towering casino properties amid tree-lined streets. The mayor at the time said, "It brings the area closer to what the master plan calls for -- casinos, restaurants, commercial and entertainment."

But master plans tend to change. Now, visions for the area by the proposed buyer, Pauls Corp. of Denver, is that it will be the site of a convention center, sports stadium, nongaming hotels and a performing arts center.

"I have sought three phases for the development of downtown -- first, protect the economic base with the Fremont Street Experience; second, centralize downtown for critical mass where people work; and third, develop the Union Pacific property as an urban center," Mayor Jan Laverty Jones said today.

"It (the old Upland property) is equidistant from every area of the valley -- great for retail and cultural centers."

Jones also noted that the reason gaming is no longer being considered as the main business for that part of town is because it would detract from the resort corridor and the Fremont Street Experience, creating the potential for "an old downtown and a new downtown."

Pauls Corp., which has built a major office park on Lake Mead Boulevard, would construct buildings that would join the Clark County Government Center as neighbors on the 114-acre site.

"Bill Pauls specializes in large mixed-use urban centers," said his Las Vegas real estate broker, James Stuart of Start MixerCommercial/Oncor International. "And this is the perhaps the only piece of real estate of its size in a downtown area in the western U.S.

"Certainly that site is attractive to anyone with gaming venue, but the mayor and city are sensitive to the existing downtown, and does not want to detract from its gaming. This project is positive growth for both sides of the tracks."