Entertainment complex planned for Fremont Street

Denise Cardinal

Thursday, Dec. 18, 1997 | 11:19 a.m.

The remaining empty stretch of the Fremont Street Experience could soon house an $84-million non-gaming entertainment center, according to officials of the City Centre Development Corp., a private sector arm of the city's downtown redevelopment agency.

The block in question is bordered by the Fremont Street Experience mall, Las Vegas Boulevard, Ogden Street and Fourth Street and hasn't had a tenant on its Fremont Street frontage for a year.

But in three years, the entire block could be home to a 232,000-square-foot, four-level shopping center with restaurants and a 24-screen movie theater called Neonopolis @ Fremont Street Experience.

The project, which needs the approval of the Las Vegas City Council to move forward, would be developed by World Entertainment Centers of Atlanta. The city would contribute to the project by providing 630 underground parking spaces for the center.

World Entertainment owns centers in South Africa, and has hired a Miami-based firm called Constructa to build Neonopolis. Constructa is the company behind a similar shopping complex in Coconut Grove, Fla., which houses such retail tenants as Banana Republic, The Cheesecake Factory and the Dan Marino Sports Bar and Grill. Similar tenants will occupy the pads in Neonopolis, which will also have neon sculptures throughout the center.

Mark Paris, president of the Fremont Street Experience Limited Liability Corp., said the new project could be the panacea for downtown redevelopment's woes. In addition to adding an estimated 600 workers, Paris said, the project will also bring "people walking around with shopping bags."

"This really brings back what it was like years ago to go downtown," Paris said. "People in Las Vegas used to come downtown for shopping and entertainment. This has the potential to really bring that element back here."

Though there are retailers on Fremont Street, mostly souvenir shops, Paris said there won't be any direct competition between the existing stores and any new ones on the way.

"There's still a place for them," he said. "They're here and I anticipate they'll stay here."