Goodman lukewarm on downtown project

Erin Neff

Friday, Jan. 14, 2000 | 11:15 a.m.

The empty 40-ounce beer bottles, shattered glass and cigarette butts littering the fenced, vacant lot at Fourth Street and Lewis Avenue belie the city's $7 million investment there.

The ground, which was never broken last year despite plans for the $57 million Sun Plaza, is now poised to form the foundation of another city-subsidized office building.

The site is at once a reminder of downtown's failed projects and the potential future revitalization of the city's aging core.

But Mayor Oscar Goodman isn't convinced the latest "sweetheart deal" downtown will bring about the sea of change needed to spur residential development and diversify the job base.

At his weekly press conference Thursday, Goodman expressed only lukewarm support for the Pauls Corp.'s planned 90,000-square-foot office tower on the site.

"I would like to see a more architecturally striking building," Goodman said. "I am not ready to say (whether I'll support it) yet."

The project, which will cost the Colorado-based Pauls Corp. between $18 million and $20 million after the city's estimated $12 million subsidy, will come before the city's Redevelopment Agency for a vote next Wednesday.

This week Goodman met with members of the City Centre Development Corp. board to discuss downtown revitalization. That board is a private-sector arm of the city's redevelopment efforts.

"As the mayor you can't do everything yourself," Goodman said. "I told them I'm frustrated."

But CCDC members who met with Goodman reportedly told him that when he airs such frustration, it harms downtown's image and potential for redevelopment.

"Every time I open my mouth without 100 percent support of a project, that creates a scapegoat if the project fails," Goodman said.

Goodman said CCDC member Peter Thomas told him the Pauls Corp.'s project is the "only project that's viable" for the vacant lot.

Thomas also reminded Goodman that Pauls needs government subsidies to create a Class-A office building because such a facility hasn't been built downtown in 25 years.

"He indicated that the average investor in an office building is entitled to 12 to 14 percent return on his investment," Goodman said. "'Pauls will be getting 11 percent."

Sun Plaza, which was proposed by American Nevada Corp. and Nevada State Bank, fell through last March when developers asked the city for additional money.

American Nevada Corp. is owned by the Greenspun family, which owns the Las Vegas Sun.

The proposed agreement between the city and Pauls calls for the city to construct and operate a 580-space parking garage on the site. Revenue from the garage would be the city's, but the parking garage is estimated to cost between $6 million and 7 million.

The city will also get less money for the land than originally proposed under terms of the agreement. Pauls would pay $1.1 million of the original $1.5 million amount.

The city purchased the site for $6.4 million and spent another $700,000 preparing it when the Sun Plaza was proposed.

After Sun Plaza failed, CCDC sought developers for the site, but did not put it out for bids. The Pauls Corp. was identified as a prospective developer and given an exclusive right to reserve the land while it worked on plans for the building.