Casinos land garage space

Tuesday, Aug. 11, 1998 | 10:59 a.m.

The Las Vegas City Council has approved a fast-tracked bill that will allow part of the Fremont Street parking garage to be leased out for future retail development.

The action at Monday's public meeting, in effect, hands over control of the 1,430-space "big red" parking garage -- it was built with $23 million in taxpayer money -- to downtown casino owners who also run the Fremont Street Experience.

The bill was introduced two weeks ago and put on what is called a "fast track," a move that enabled it to come before the council with minimal delay.

As a result, the bill was heard at a recommending committee hearing Aug. 3 and was passed at Monday's council meeting by a 5-0 vote without comment by either the council or members of the public.

The council also approved the measure by the same vote a second time Monday while acting as the Downtown Redevelopment Agency. Again, neither the public nor council members chose to discuss the matter in the open forum.

Although reports had surfaced last month that there was a fear the casino operators would turn the garage into a big gambling hall, that issue also did not come up at the meeting.

Fremont Street Experience officials have said the purpose of obtaining the garage is for retail shops but only on the first level. The other levels are expected to remain reserved for public parking.

Proponents of the bill say it is the best use for the garage which in its busiest times is just 30 percent full.

The council, with its vote, "subordinated" the city's first deed of trust in the parking garage as security for the commercial plan.

That action enabled the casino owners, who are acting as the Fremont Street Experience Parking Corp., to put a lien on the garage so they can make improvements and provide spaces for retail tenants.

Rental fees paid by the tenants will be used to reimburse the city for the costs associated with the acquisition of the parking garage site.

In the event of default, the city would have the right to repurchase the deed of trust, city officials said.

Subordinating the parking garage is the first step toward the creation of a multimillion-dollar redevelopment project called Neonopolis@Fremont Street Experience.

For that 264,000-square-foot shopping, restaurant and entertainment facility, the city will build a $14 million underground parking garage and retain the parking fees it generates.

Two weeks ago, the council approved an amendment to the Neonopolis plan that calls for the city to not only build the 600-space subterranean garage but also commit to the project use of the parking lot directly south of City Hall on Stewart Avenue.

Neonopolis is projected to open it late in 2000. Its anchor tenant is Mann Theatres, which plans to build and operate a 16-screen cinema complex.