Furniture Mart startup seen for coming winter

Thursday, Sept. 19, 2002 | 11:05 a.m.

Everyone, it seems, is satisfied that the long-awaited, highly touted $1 billion World Market Center is ready.

Las Vegas city officials seem satisfied that the estimated $40 million they will shell out to the developer over the next 20 years will help ensure success of the project, to be built over the next eight years on 57 acres of old Union Pacific Railroad property west of the downtown core.

Community activists seem satisfied that the World Market Center's mega-furniture outlet called Furniture Mart will attempt to provide a fair share of its proposed 1,500 jobs to the disadvantaged, especially to those in economically depressed and minority-dominated West Las Vegas.

Even 200 businesses seem satisfied with the proposal that has spent three years on the drawing board. Representatives from those businesses have signed leases to bring their companies to town.

Now, the challenge is for developers and co-managers Jack Kashani and Shawn Samson to build it.

"It is our intention ... to commence construction in the winter of 2003," Samson told the Las Vegas City Council on Wednesday, moments before the board voted unanimously to enter into the owner-participation agreement for the multi-phase project that will include 7.5 million square feet of wholesale furniture showrooms, exhibition space and offices.

"This will be a stunning building," Samson said.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman called the approval of the project, "a historic occasion ... a big day for the city of Las Vegas."

Goodman said he had met with some who have signed leases to bring their businesses into the World Market Center.

Goodman said those business owners were "dripping with money."

Goodman also read into the record a letter from Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce President Pat Shalmy calling the project "a defining moment in our history, where we will once again raise the bar of innovation in our efforts to attract new businesses to the area."

The project had been delayed in recent months because of a lack of an employment plan for hiring minorities, women, the disabled, the poor and veterans. Longtime black community leader Gene Collins said the employment plan that was reached last week after several meetings with the city has created a potential for everyone to get a fair share of the pie.

"It is something we can all sink our teeth into," Collins said. "It brings us all into the economic realm."

Although the 30-page plan does not call for quotas in hiring, it proposes "to fill as many as possible new permanent jobs created as a direct result of the project by residents in the targeted areas who are economically disadvantaged, physically handicapped, members of racial minorities, veterans, homeless and women."

The World Market Center also will report to the city on a quarterly basis, detailing whether it is meeting the obligations in the employment plan.

Goodman said that the developer will build the project with investors' money and, over the years, pay taxes on the developed property.

Of that tax money, 18 percent will be set aside to build affordable housing in the community, 41 percent will be kept by the city and 41 percent will be returned to the developer in what is called tax increment financing -- the amount of tax money beyond what the nondeveloped area currently generates -- to invest back into the project, Goodman said.

It is estimated that over the life of the project, $50 million to $80 million will be generated in tax increment financing.

The project is expected to attract one million new visitors from around the world each year, generate $1 million annually in non-property tax revenues and create an estimated 35,000 new jobs locally at places like area hotels and restaurants to tend to the projected boost in visitors, project officials said.

The owner participation agreement with the city requires that Phase 1 "be built all at once and (include) at least 800,000 square feet of primarily wholesale furniture exhibition and sales and a design center."

The agreement also calls for the developer to pay the agency up to $100,000 if it "does not make a good faith effort to begin the construction of the first phase of the project" as promised.

Phase 1 is expected to open in early 2004, project officials said.