Despite success of shopping center, magic fades from expansion dreams

Erin Neff

Friday, March 3, 2000 | 10:12 a.m.

When retired basketball great Magic Johnson stood on a vacant West Las Vegas lot in 1993, he envisioned grocery stores, coffee shops and maybe even movie theaters.

The celebrity, who was lending his name to revitalization efforts in poor, black communities nationwide, thought his Johnson Development Corp. would bring needed services and spark economic development around it.

A Vons supermarket -- the first grocery store built in West Las Vegas (a predominantly black, economically depressed area) since the 1960s -- opened two years later, and the community slowly bought into his concept and began supporting the stores of Magic's Westland Plaza on Owens Avenue.

Yet Johnson's partner, Ken Lombard, never received the type of interest in future development that both men hoped would happen.

As a result, plans for a second phase retail commercial project fell through Wednesday when Lombard told the city that Johnson Development would not develop 11 acres at Owens and H Street after all.

"We required him to build 40,000 square feet of retail by a certain date, and he said he didn't have enough tenants," said David Oka, who works for the city of Las Vegas Redevelopment Agency.

Although Mayor Oscar Goodman said Thursday he was saddened by the news, he said it opens the parcel up to other developers who had been shut out of the site during the years that Johnson's company had an agreement with the city.

"I guess they felt it wasn't economical," Goodman said. "Now we'll see what other developers can do there."

The second phase of Magic's Westland Plaza was to include a minimum of 40,000 square feet of retail, a 15,000-square-foot strip mall and 25,000 square feet of other development.

The city had viewed the total 80,000-square-foot project as a tax generator, with estimates of such revenue topping $45,000 annually.

The $3.8 million project included relocating tenants from the site to make way for the retail center.

Anthony Snowden, who works for the nonprofit West Las Vegas Development Corp., said he has talked with a number of developers interested in taking over the site.

"We need something that's beneficial to the community in terms of economic development," Snowden said.

But the site also is eyed by proponents of a charter school.

"The community has to decide if they want the charter school or economic development," Goodman said.

Snowden said the area needs restaurants, a hardware store and maybe a beauty salon.

"The community wants economics," Snowden said.

Oka said the city will now examine other proposals for the site.

"We'll take a step back and start evaluating what comes in," Oka said.