Snag in land deal delays high-tech proposal

Erin Neff

Friday, Jan. 5, 2001 | 11:06 a.m.

Proponents of a high-tech business incubator in downtown Las Vegas have their plans, financing and leasing possibilities ready to go.

But a late snag in negotiations between the city of Las Vegas and Union Pacific Railroad has delayed one critical part of the planned project.

Land.

Mayor Oscar Goodman said Thursday that a last-minute report citing concerns about the ingress and egress from the 10.64-acre site meant the city could not close escrow on the property by the end of 2000 as originally planned.

In September when Goodman announced plans for the incubator -- with input from Cisco Systems, Worldwide Wireless Networks and AT&T -- the city had planned to serve as a conduit for the land sale.

The tentative agreement called for the city to purchase the site at $9.25 a square foot for a total of almost $4.3 million. Immediately after closing escrow, the city was to sell the land for the same amount to LVDT Redevelopment LLC for the incubator.

The property is in Parkway Center, a vacant 120-acre site Union Pacific hopes to sell to developers for a variety of projects. The incubator's 10-acre site is near the Clark County Government Center.

Goodman said he initially thought Union Pacific had to close escrow on the property in 2000 for tax purposes.

"Can they use it for 2001?" Goodman asked. "If they can, there's no reason the deal can't happen."

Don Caldwell of Union Pacific's Real Estate Development division said he was not sure what concerns the city had on the property.

"We hope to work out a solution for it," Caldwell said from his California offices. "We were all ready and prepared to close. We hope to put it together real soon."

Goodman said the only stumbling block he can see to the deal is if Union Pacific ups the asking price. The incubator project is contingent on the $9.25-a-square-foot price.

Even if the deal somehow falters, Goodman said the incubator project will still go forward.

"If it's not going to be on those 10 acres, it'll be elsewhere downtown," Goodman said.

Goodman calls the incubator the project that will have the single largest impact on downtown's redevelopment.

He recently met with the Nevada Development Authority, which expressed interest in having an office in the incubator.