Mayor, city manager to meet with developers over downtown parcel

Diana Sahagun

Friday, July 21, 2000 | 11:23 a.m.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman and City Manager Virginia Valentine will fly to the East Coast this weekend to meet with developers who are eyeing a 61-acre parcel as the next big thing for downtown.

Without giving any specific names, Goodman said Thursday he has been fielding calls from developers who are interested in building everything from a sports arena, cultural arts center, casino, convention hall, housing -- "hits from all over," he said.

This weekend, Goodman and Valentine will meet with several developers in Baltimore to talk about building "a city within a city" on the parcel.

Goodman announced last month that the city has reached a tentative agreement with Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. to swap land at the city's technology park for Lehman's key 61-acre parcel downtown.

Under the proposed land swap, Lehman will get 97 acres of Las Vegas Technology Center land at Smoke Ranch Road and Tenaya Way plus $2 million in cash in exchange for the downtown site.

The city-owned land was recently appraised by the city at $32.4 million. The Lehman site, which is between the Clark County Government Center and the Spaghetti Bowl, has been appraised at $48.3 million.

Goodman has said he would prefer an art center or casino on the site, but said when he meets with developers he will keep an open mind.

"This will be the most special project for the city, I don't want to go in with any preconceptions," he said.

The City Council Wednesday gave city staff the go-ahead to enter into negotiations with Shopco Advisory Corp. for the possible exchange.

Goodman said he hopes that when he returns to Las Vegas Tuesday night he will have some good news -- or some blueprints -- in hand.

"They'll be giving me a crash course on how to develop a piece of property of that size," he said.