Hughes building two more office buildings, plans a third

Brian Seals

Thursday, March 12, 1998 | 10:48 a.m.

A Howard Hughes Corp. executive on Wednesday revealed plans for two new office buildings in Las Vegas, and said a third is in the planning stages.

The company plans an eight-story, 165,000-square-feet building at its Hughes Center at 3990 Howard Hughes Parkway. It hopes to break ground this year with completion set for 1999.

"We've been very fortunate to be able to build buildings on a speculative basis. It's important to our marketing strategy to keep things coming on line," company vice president of commercial leasing Michael Newman told members of the Commercial Marketing Group.

Office space is also set for an 18-acre site near Charleston Boulevard and Hualapai Way. The first phase will be a 71,000-square-feet, two-story office structure. The project is set to start next year with subsequent phases to be planned.

The company also has tentative plans for a nine-story office building with 200,000 square feet at 3830 Howard Hughes Parkway after the turn of the century.

A 225-room Residence Inn by Marriott is under construction and an 86,000-square-feet office building was recently completed at the Hughes Center, which is the upscale office and restaurant complex northwest of the intersection of Paradise and Flamingo roads.

The campus started with the construction of what is now the Wells Fargo tower in 1985. The 115-acre site now has more than 800,000 square feet of office space.

"The people downtown don't like us to say that, but it's turned into a central business district," Newman said.

Newman said the Las Vegas market remains strong.

"We're always cautious. The days of holding your finger to the wind and developing a product are gone," Newman said. "We do quite a bit of research before we develop a product. We're still enthusiastic about the market place and we think there's a lot of room for development."

As for the company's industrial property, the company is closing on a deal for 30 acres at Hughes Airport Center adjacent to McCarran International Airport, said Rick Meyer, vice president of industrial leasing, adding that would fill most of the space left there. Also, Meyer said the firm is mulling whether to sell 80 acres remaining in Hughes Cheyenne Center, a 209-acre industrial park in North Las Vegas.

"We're definitely considering land sales in Cheyenne," Meyer said.

The Rouse Co., the owner of Hughes, meantime continues to plan for a regional mall in Hughes' Summerlin master-planned community.