Henderson developer sent back to drawing board

Greg Harman

Friday, Sept. 22, 2000 | 11:16 a.m.

The developer behind a proposed $100 million office-retail complex, a potential cornerstone for downtown Henderson redevelopment efforts, has more work to do before the city will sign off on the project's first phase of development.

To begin with, the city would like to see detailed designs of Phyllis E. Thompson's retooled first phase, to be located at the corner of Water Street and Basic Road.

The redesign was prompted by fumbled property negotiations with four homeowners whose lots were needed for Phase One's construction. City officials also were reticent to act on company President Phyllis Thompson's May suggestion that eminent domain proceedings be used to roust two property owners driving difficult bargains with the company.

But it was poor communication that led Thompson and Executive Vice President Victor Vincent to Tuesday's Henderson Redevelopment Agency meeting expecting to finally seal a Disposition and Development Agreement with the city allowing them to break ground on the project.

Lacking the design work and detailed parking studies, the agency delayed the agreement until October, pushing Thompson Cos. groundbreaking past its September target date.

"We've got a few details on the (agreement) we still haven't worked out yet," Bob Wilson, Henderson's acting redevelopment officer, said Thursday. "It's all solvable. It's just a matter of if they want to do it the way we think it should be done."

There doesn't seem to be any debate about that.

Vincent said he would submit the new design early next week and blamed the miscommunication on his own recent travel schedule that had kept him out of touch with recent developments.

"We're re-evaluating the parking right now," Vincent said. "It's just kind of an update."

While the company has analyzed the new parking configuration, Vincent said independent analysis is pending. He was optimistic the updates will be performed quickly and the agreement will be approved next month.

The first phase of Fountain Plaza will include 105,000 square feet of office space and 54,000 square feet of retail space and parking. The main tenant is expected to be Dr. Harry Rosenburg and the Nevada College of Pharmacy.