Long-sought land swap gives city key parcel downtown

Erin Neff

Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2001 | 11:12 a.m.

The city of Las Vegas rang out 2000 with potentially the biggest single event that will shape not just this new year, but the next few decades.

Lehman Brothers and the city agreed to a momentous land swap late on Friday, just minutes before the city closed for the three-day holiday weekend.

Now the city has a 61.5-acre parcel of undeveloped land immediately adjacent to downtown and with easy access to the busiest freeway junction in the state.

The city traded 99 acres of land in its northwest Technology Center, plus $2 million, to acquire the parcel Mayor Oscar Goodman hypes as "the best piece of real estate in the nation."

The deal was first proposed in early 2000, with a tentative agreement between the two parties reached in June. The last six months of the year were spent negotiating fine legal terms over environmental mitigation of the downtown site and tenant contracts at the technology center.

The city now has what Goodman claims is the keystone property in downtown's revitalization efforts.

Already, more than 1,500 requests for qualifications have been sent to developers nationwide. The city is marketing the site with ads in the Wall Street Journal and with a CD-ROM sent to prospective developers.

The city's office of business development has been receiving about a dozen inquiries a week, including proposals to build a medical school campus, a theme park and a 20,000-seat soccer stadium.

After the qualification packages are received from developers, the city plans to create a committee to examine the proposals and narrow the field.

The City Council will eventually vote on what type of development the site will have.