LV council OKs talks for downtown land deal

Erin Neff

Thursday, July 20, 2000 | 11:10 a.m.

A vacant slice of land at the gateway to downtown Las Vegas looks ready for a development of any sort.

But Las Vegas officials will spend the next six weeks determining if the 61-acre parcel the city wants to get in a land swap is safe enough for all developments.

The City Council on Wednesday unanimously authorized city staff to enter into negotiations with Shopco Advisory Corp. for the possible exchange of 61 acres owned by Lehman Bros. for 98 acres of city-owned technology center property and $2 million in cash.

The negotiations are designed to make sure both sides are comfortable with the financial ramifications of the proposed swap.

In addition to financing the city must determine if the 61-acre parcel has been suitably cleaned of environmental contamination. And Lehman has to come to terms with several existing businesses in the Las Vegas Technology Center.

"We gave them the (codes, covenants and restrictions) and let them know that was our expectation," City Manager Virginia Valentine said.

The 98 acres in the technology center at Smoke Ranch Road and Buffalo Drive includes about 21 acres of developed land. Those businesses have asked the city to ensure that the land use restrictions currently in place are recognized by the new owners.

Negotiations also will revolve around the past diesel fuel contamination and subsequent clean-up of the land by Union Pacific Railroad.

Councilman Michael McDonald asked if the negotiation period, which will end Sept. 1 with a council vote on the agreement, was long enough.

"I heard that there may be some underlying problems," McDonald said.

McDonald also asked for an independent appraisal of the two parcels. Lehman Bros. has appraised both parcels, and the city has appraised the tech center land.

The Lehman Bros. site has been appraised at $48.3 million. The city's land has been appraised at $32.4 million.

Councilman Michael Mack said the city originally purchased the entire 270-acre land for the technology center for about $5 million and thinks the proposed land swap is reasonable.

Mayor Oscar Goodman has called the downtown land "the greatest piece of urban real estate in the country." He envisions the parcel as the perfect site for a sports arena and has been talking with developers around the country about the site.