Hilton mulls downtown hotel; outlet mall proposed for same LV parcel

Diana Sahagun

Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2001 | 10:56 a.m.

Hilton Hotels Corp. is considering a nearly 4-acre parcel in downtown Las Vegas as the site for a 20-story hotel and will meet with city officials this week to discuss the idea, according to a source involved with the meeting.

The hotel would be built at the northeast corner of a 39-acre parcel where nationally known Chelsea Property Group is building an outlet mall. The property is located at Grand Central Parkway and Bonneville Avenue, west of the Clark County Government Center.

Representatives from Hilton, based in Beverly Hills, Calif., and Chelsea will meet with the city's business development staff this week to discuss preliminary plans for the hotel, the source said.

Representatives from Chelsea and Hilton declined comment when contacted Tuesday by the Sun. Las Vegas Business Development Director Lesa Coder could not be reached for comment.

The outlet mall -- named Las Vegas Premium Outlets -- would take up 30 acres, which is being sold to Chelsea by the Union Pacific Railroad. Two parcels, at the northern and southern end of the property, will be sold or leased to other developers, Chelsea representatives have said.

City officials last week cheered the announcement by Mark Silvestri, senior director of development for Chelsea, that the company was investing $80 million to build a 430,000-square-foot mall downtown. Silvestri added that he had met with a potential hotel developer for one parcel.

That company, the source said, is Hilton.

The city has been working for years to step up redevelopment efforts. The target is several parcels that have stood vacant for years west of downtown.

A city-owned, 61-acre parcel is being proposed for an academic medical campus, performing arts center and residential towers. And a nearby 57-acre parcel is being proposed for a furniture mart.

Hotel representatives will present the proposed site plan to the city and discuss other tentative plans this week, the source said. They are hoping to fast-track the hotel proposal so ground can be broken at the same time as the outlet mall, the source said.

Chelsea plans to break ground on the mall in October and is already moving ahead with plans. Chelsea will present its site development plan to the Planning Commission Aug. 9.

The source said part of the negotiations with the city would involve whether the hotel will have a gaming component.

Although there have been no formal plans for gaming on the 39-acre site, the city is moving forward with allowing gaming uses on the downtown parcels. Already, the council has approved an ordinance that would allow gaming on the 61-acre parcel owned by the city. Gaming boundaries had previously stopped east of the railroad tracks.

At the Aug. 9 Planning Commission meeting, members will consider an amendment to the city's general plan that would allow gaming on property located along the east side of Interstate 15 between Charleston Boulevard and U.S. 95, which includes the 39-acre parcel and a 57-acre parcel.

Hilton has 1,900 hotels around the world, including Hampton Inn, Doubletree, Embassy Suites Hotel and Red Lion hotels.

Hilton has six nongambling hotels in Las Vegas, including a Doubletree, two Embassy Suites and three Hampton Inns.

Last month Hilton broke ground on its latest venture in the city -- a 1,500-unit, 33 story timeshare complex at the north end of the Strip.

The project is Hilton's third timeshare project in the city. The project is just north of the Circus Circus hotel-casino, on a now-vacant 10-acre land parcel near Sahara Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard.

Hilton's sister company is Park Place Entertainment Corp. of Las Vegas, the world's largest casino gambling company. Hilton spun off its casino hotel operations into Park Place in 1998. In Las Vegas, Park Place owns Caesars Palace, the Flamingo, Bally's, Paris Las Vegas and the Las Vegas Hilton.