Friday, April 24, 1998 | 9:53 a.m.
The upcoming construction of a new Clark County Justice Center has spawned visions among city officials of a sprawling, high rise studded business district that would resurrect what has become a shabby neighborhood.
But the plan, which has not yet been formalized through a City Council ordinance, is drawing skepticism, concern and criticism from downtown property owners. Most of them are attorneys who want their offices near the new courthouse, who say that the plan is already being implemented.
Approved by the City Council in late 1996, the downtown urban core plan is a series of guidelines for developments in the area south of U.S. 95, east of Interstate 15, north of Garces Street and west of Sixth Avenue.
Part of the plan's wording includes a provision that asks for no new construction of any office building that's less than 30,000 square feet or at least a quart of a block, according to Steve Van Gorp, urban design coordinator for the city of Las Vegas.
"The goal is to try and develop large office buildings," Van Gorp said. "We need a critical mass of people downtown so that we can have the things a real downtown has like street cafes and residential uses."
"It will be a great thing for downtown," said Dave Oka, manager of the city's redevelopment agency. "These major buildings will enhance the appearance of the city plus make it more attractive for other office investors to be downtown."
For attorneys Gregory and Peter Koppe, the city's plan came as a shock as they embarked on a course to build an office for their small law firm across the street from the new justice center.
Their current office at 530 S. Third St. is being swallowed up through eminent domain to construct the new building, so the two decided to build on a lot they owned across the street.
But when they sought permission to build on the old downtown home lot, measuring 50 by 140 feet, they were told the site didn't conform to the plan, although they had never been informed of the plan's existence.
"We're concerned it won't be approved," Gregory Koppe said.
Several other lawyers, who not-so-playfully refer to the district as "The Forbidden City," are in the same situation, according to realtor Christine Ceridono, who specializes in commercial property in the downtown area.
"They're cutting out people who have been here forever," Ceridono said. "Is it right to cut them out?"
Longtime attorney James Jimmerson has a 24,000-square-foot piece of land at Casino Center Boulevard and Clark Avenue and there is no available land adjacent to give him enough for the new standards.
"I'm worried they won't let me build," he said.
Van Gorp said that there is a possibility that the city would allow them to build. They need approval, however, from the Planning Commission and the City Council.
"The (planning and development) staff recommendation would be for denial based on its noncompliance with the urban core plan," Van Gorp said. "But, that's ultimately up to the council."
The questions Ceridono and the property owners pose is whether there is a real need for the office space, or if it's just a pipe dream of the city's redevelopment agency.
Another commercial real estate broker, who asked not to be identified because of ongoing business involving city government, agreed there is "no pent-up need for office space downtown."
"Look at how long the Minami hole has been there," the broker said, referring to the ill-fated office tower that was supposed to be constructed at Las Vegas Boulevard and Bridger Avenue several years ago. The two blocks has sat unwanted behind a chain link fence until it was given by the city to the U.S. Government for a new federal courthouse.
"It's a joke. It's crazy," said real estate broker and developer Randy Blood. "It's someone's idea of how they want downtown to look. It's wishful thinking. They're trying to put a square peg in a round hole."
Blood, whose 7,500-square-foot downtown office building also is going to become part of the new regional justice center, said his view of the district would be different if insurance companies or other large companies were clamoring for land to build downtown high rises.
But he said that's not likely.
"There isn't the demand for downtown office space," he said, adding that building even a 7,000-square-foot office building is considered risky in today's market.
And history proves his point. In the last quarter century, the only structure built legally under the proposed plan is the office building at 530 Las Vegas Blvd. South, which was funded in part by the Downtown Redevelopment Agency.
The only new buildings currently planned for the district are the expansion of that same law office and the Nevada State Bank at the SUN Plaza building northeast of the justice center. The $57-million, 13-floor SUN Plaza complex will house the headquarters of Nevada State Bank, the Las Vegas SUN newspaper and other businesses. The 290,000-square-foot office complex between Third and Fourth streets and Lewis and Clark avenues is scheduled for completion in late spring 1999.
Some attorneys have privately suggested that if the city wanted to create such a district, the justice center probably should have been planned for the Union Pacific Railroad yard near the county's Government Center. The justice center, according to District Judge Nancy Becker, will be completed in fall 2001.
The concern attorneys -- as well as the city -- has is that the decrepit land around the new courthouse will continue to wither. The question is whether it will occur faster as lawyers are forced to move outside the district to construct small offices or convert old houses into office space. Such approaches have been the norm for the legal profession for decades.
"We may be forced to look at other options if we want to build a new building, we may be forced to the fringes outside outside the high-rise district," Gregory Koppe said.
He noted that the advantage of a downtown office is the ability to walk to the courthouse, but if he has to drive to the courthouse it wouldn't matter to him if he has to drive five minutes or 10.
"The people who want to build can't and those the city wants aren't willing to build," Koppe said.
Van Gorp said that the city is encouraging attorneys to build their offices in the houses just east of Sixth Street, where several offices are already built. Not only is it more appropriate in that location, he said, it's still within walking distance of downtown.
But the discontent with small downtown property owners might encourage just the opposite of what the city wants. Attorneys are talking about moving to Hughes Center on Paradise Road or Summerlin instead of trying to piece together a five-parcel chunk of land for an office structure.
Blood said that once he leaves the brick building at Fourth Street and Clark Avenue that he and Tiberti have occupied for the past two decades, there is no business reason keeping them downtown.
"We're not staying, we're going out west," Blood said.
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