Council approves Hecht deal

Denise Cardinal

Tuesday, March 24, 1998 | 10:09 a.m.

The last component of the settlement between the City of Las Vegas and former U.S. Sen. Chic Hecht was ratified at Monday's City Council meeting.

The City Council unanimously agreed to pay $3.2 million to help purchase an office building in northwest Las Vegas that satisfies the legal requirement between the Hecht family and the city.

In July, the city agreed to pay the Hechts $4.1 million for land the city improperly obtained through eminent domain.

The land, which now houses the Fremont Street Experience parking garage, sits at the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Fremont Street.

The Hechts also agreed with the city to exchange another parcel of their downtown property, formerly Woolworth's department store across Fremont Street from the garage, for a land parcel and building of at least equal value.

It was required that the replacement property bring in $230,000 a year for the Hechts. The city was required to pay that sum until it found property to exchange.

In total, the city will shell out $2.7 for the property, $345,000 for the yearly sum requirement and $155,000 on closing costs. The city isn't paying for all of the replacement property, only the equivalent space that would bring in $230,000 a year.

Woolworth's, though closed for months, is now paying the city rent for the space.