Decision time: Las Vegas City Council to choose one of four downtown proposals

Diana Sahagun

Friday, June 22, 2001 | 11:20 a.m.

All of the sometimes aggravating, sometimes exhilarating redevelopment efforts over the past two years will come to a head for the city of Las Vegas Monday when the City Council meets to decide which of four proposals will be chosen for a prime piece of downtown real estate.

Mayor Oscar Goodman spent his first year in office trying to broker a deal with Lehman Brothers for 61 acres he calls "the best piece of real estate in the world."

With the land now under the city's control, the sky's the limit for the projects expected to rise out of the desert near the Clark County Government Center.

During the special meeting, scheduled for 2 p.m. Monday in the council chambers at City Hall, the city will have the long-awaited opportunity to send a burst of energy into an area that officials have long realized is badly in need of redevelopment.

Four proposals will be considered from developers who designed them to be compatible with the City Council's vision. The council had requested proposals that would include an academic medical center, performing arts center, office space and high-density residential towers. All of the proposals include a performing arts center but vary on the main theme and use.

Here are the proposals the city will consider Monday:

Medical school

When it comes to medical research, Las Vegas is lagging behind the rest of the country compared to cities of the same size, said Dr. Robert Miller, dean of the University of Nevada School of Medicine.

That's why he jumped at the chance to include a medical school on the land near University Medical Center, where medical students currently train.

Miller said there is a desperate need for the facility because, with the exception of Phoenix, Las Vegas is the largest metropolitan area in the country without a research-based academic medical center.

Academic medical centers in cities the size of Las Vegas offer a collection of health-related schools and institutions together in one geographic location.

Although a large research-based academic medical center in Nevada would be a large investment, Miller says it's one that would likely pay off. The Texas Medical Center in Houston contributes $10 billion a year in economic activity to the area while serving as the state's medical training facility, he said.

At Monday's meeting, Miller will ask the council for a minimum 20 acres to build the first phase of the campus. Ultimately, the campus could include a specialty hospital and professional office towers.

The first phase would house the School of Medicine and a dental school, both of which have been approved by the Board of Regents. It would also include a cancer institute, allowing nine specialists currently researching at UNLV to be under one roof. The buildings would also offer classrooms, academic offices and research labs.

The first phase would cost approximately $125 million, he said. Miller already has $5 million for the medical school from the tobacco settlement fund, and the cancer institute has $1.8 million in federal funds. The remaining money would have to come from the private sector, Miller said.

Depending on how much land is given, the campus could also eventually contain an in-patient hospital for complex procedures.

"Las Vegas is probably one of the few cities in the country that is under-doctored and has lower than the needed number of hospital beds," Miller said. "My hope is that by providing health care services that aren't currently available it will make Las Vegas much more attractive to businesses moving into the area."

If the project is selected, Miller will ask the regents -- who govern the state's higher education institutions -- to include some funding for the first phase in its budget. The 2003 Legislature would make the final decision.

Miller said the campus is key to the revitalization of downtown because it brings in services that don't currently exist. The specialty hospital, if built, would mean residents could stay in town when they need major surgery.

An academic medical center would also allow the school to increase the number of students it admits to the program. The school currently accepts 52 students a year and they attend classes in a leased building next to UMC.

Bill Hale, chief executive officer at UMC, fought an earlier proposal to build a medical campus in the northwest. The location would have been inconvenient for students who currently get their clinical experience at UMC, he said. Hale now supports the dean's efforts to locate the center downtown.

"There is a lack of research being done in Las Vegas and in order to attract qualified doctors with the highest expertise, you need a top-flight research facility and the medical school doesn't have that," Hale said.

Millennium City

While the academic medical campus homes in on a specific industry, the project being proposed by the developers of "Millennium City" offers a little bit of everything.

Instead of proposing a certain project, the developers of Millennium City are hoping instead that they will be chosen to be the master developer of whatever components the council chooses.

Managing partners Shawn Samson and Jack Kashani say they have an advantage because they are the "pioneers" of the adjacent 57-acre Word Market Center, a wholesale furniture market.

Because they will soon be breaking ground on that project, they want the next-door 61-acre parcel because it will ensure both sites remain cohesive.

"It's impossible to create a harmonious traffic flow without designing both sites together," Samson said. "It's very important to master-plan the property ... to do it on a piecemeal basis is going to miss a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

If the partners are chosen as the master developer, the combined parcels would be larger than the successful Los Angeles Century City, which helped spark the name "Millennium City," Samson said.

While their proposal includes the council's requirement of an academic medical center, performing arts center, residential, retail and office units, the design could be changed based on whichever projects the council chooses.

Film school

When James Reid, president of the year-old Las Vegas Studio Development Inc., submitted his proposal for a film studio on the 61 acres, he had movie producer Steven Spielberg and comedian Jay Leno in mind.

His proposal for the entire 61 acres includes 12 film stages and four television stages that would rival Hollywood with the world's largest stage -- 60,000 square feet.

The vision for the project is to create an entirely new industry for Las Vegas and attract producers to film their television shows, high-budget movies and comedy shows. Plenty of filmmakers shoot on location inside area casinos, but Reid imagines an entire movie being shot on one of the giant stages.

"Many people over the last 20 to 30 years have proposed film studios, but none of them have ever happened," he said."We desperately need to have a second business here in Nevada and we feel that film is something that mixes well with the current entertainment offered in Las Vegas."

Supporters say the motion picture business is a perfect match for the city's claim to be the "Entertainment Capital of the World."

Without disclosing who would fund the project, Reid said he has been in contact with two financiers who are interested.

Representatives from Entertainment Development Corp. of Las Vegas, a nonprofit group that works to foster entertainment industry growth, have been in contact with Reid. Daniel Greenspun, vice president of the Las Vegas Sun, is a former chairman of EDC and remains a member.

"Film production is the fastest, most efficient way to increase the economy," said Mimosa Jones, chief executive officer of the corporation. "We turn away a lot of productions because we just don't have the facilities."

Jones said producers are moving away from Hollywood, trying to find places to film that are more affordable and have predictable weather.

"With Las Vegas being such a hot spot for entertainment, they'd love to live and work here as well," Jones said. "Las Vegas is really primed to embrace this industry."

Sports arena

Southwest Sports Group is proposing to build a sports complex that would include an arena and apartment towers.

Mayor Oscar Goodman has been trying to lure a professional team to the city since he was elected, but so far hasn't had any luck. Goodman has said that an arena won't be built unless a team has committed to moving here.

The group is partners with some well-known affiliates, which would help give the project some weight. The group works with Mandalay Sports Entertainment, which owns the Las Vegas 51s baseball team and a movie production company.

Company representatives did not return calls for comment.

High expectations

The Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority aren't picking their favorite project, but say they support anything that brings economic diversification without burdening taxpayers.

Rob Powers, LVCVA spokesman, said the best project would be the one aiding redevelopment efforts. "Anything that would draw people to the downtown area and to Las Vegas would be beneficial to everyone," Powers said. "If a facility (like a sports arena) were to be built, it would be our role to bring in special events."

To Mark Paris, president of the Fremont Street Experience, of upmost importance is increasing tourism downtown.

"We'd love to see those things that support tourism on the Fremont Street Experience, but to also have the opportunity to have a performing arts center located downtown, a medical facility and residential housing," he said.

With other projects like the Neonopolis shopping center and theater complex being built, he said, downtown is becoming an area tourists enjoy. Paris just produced a jogging map for visitors that takes them through several downtown sites and eventually the 61 acres.

"The key is to be patient, and to make sure that the people who the city aligns itself with have the right breadth of experience and they have financial backing," Paris said. "We can't wait to see what's next."

Don Snyder, president of Boyd Gaming Corp., said the academic medical center and performing arts center are key to create a synergy and rebirth of downtown. He said such projects will help erase the negative perception critics have long held.

"The critics have had difficulty in turning the page on the past, but that's what redevelopment is all about," Snyder said. "Redevelopment has to do with undoing attitudes, removing land problems, and this will be a major step forward."

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