Firm: Spark downtown business

Jeffrey Libby

Wednesday, June 13, 2001 | 10:28 a.m.

Downtown Henderson has languished in a time warp with little private investment, but can be and should be saved, says the most recent study released by a consulting firm with plans to spark new business investment along Water Street.

Clarion As-so-ciates, a Colorado-based firm hired by the Henderson Redevelopment Agency at a cost of $164,000, made those initial observations after studying the economic pulse of downtown Henderson for four months this spring. Clarion plans to release a final redevelopment plan this fall.

At a meeting Tuesday where the study was released, company representatives asked about 75 small business owners and residents to dream again of what shape they want their revitalized downtown to take.

Leslie Bethel, vice president of Clarion Associates, acknowledged to the group, many of whom have heard such pitches before, that her firm's study is the latest in a long line of predecessors.

Since 1996, when the City Council formed the 1,307-acre downtown redevelopment zone and the redevelopment agency to go with it, the council has approved more than 10 different market studies. None has made much headway. The accumulated costs of those studies were not available at the meeting.

But the mood Tuesday was upbeat. Both Mary Kay Peck, community development director, and Bob Wilson, redevelopment manager, said they are confident Clarion's plan will take from the best of previous plans and provide a comprehensive redevelopment strategy.

Clarion is working with redevelopment officials from El Cajon, Calif., and Mesa, Ariz., two suburban cities outside major metropolitan areas that have had success in redevelopment.

Emery Childress III, a cafe owner who hopes to open a steak and seafood restaurant on Water Street, was also optimistic that this latest plan will be the charm.

"I feel like like I have the support of the city of Henderson," he said. Noting the proximity of the restaurant to City Hall, he added, "Besides their moral support, I'll have the support of them being able to come to a casual restaurant for lunch."

Initially, planners will limit commercial development to a "walkable" three-block stretch of Water Street from Lake Mead Drive south to Atlantic Avenue, Bethel said.

"With the temperatures we have here in Henderson, it's not that we have to have misters everywhere, but awnings, simple things that open up a storefront," Bethel said.

Fountain Plaza, a long-planned 160,000 square-foot commercial complex, is separated by about a block from the initial development area. But Peck and Wilson said they expect the $26 million project to break ground and be integrated into future plans.

Bradley Segal, an urban planner working with Clarion, said initial restaurants, arts venues and retail stores will be marketed to the expected needs of people living within a 15-minute drive of Water Street.

"It needs to work for the locals first before we bring the other markets in," Segal said.

The median annual household income levels range from a low of $21,802 in a neighborhood southeast of Lake Mead Drive and Boulder Highway to a high of $54,455 southeast of Major Avenue and Boulder Highway. Those sharp differences in disposable income will create unique challenges, Segal said.