Metro given time to consider using County Courthouse site

Sito Negron

Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2003 | 11:14 a.m.

Clark County commissioners today gave Metro Police 60 more days to consider the merits of tearing down the County Courthouse, selling the land to a builder, and letting that builder construct an administrative building that law enforcement could lease back.

"We think we would be a very good anchor tenant," Metro Undersheriff Doug Gillespie said.

The property, at 200 S. Third St., is appraised for $9.7 million. Three offers have been made on it, according to county documentation.

It was declared surplus in April 2002, and in July commissioners authorized staff to proceed with negotiations on a sale agreement. It is to continue to be used by the county until the $185 million Regional Justice Center is completed some time next year.

In July, Metro contracted with a planning company, DSA, to identify future space needs. Gillespie said Metro spends $460,000 a month on its current leases, and the people in those offices could be consolidated downtown.

Although the number of people who would move would save about $360,000 in leases, Gillespie said, by the time the building opened in three years Metro will have grown and still would need to spend about $200,000 a month on outside leases.

The study is to give a more thorough accounting of the financial and manpower issues involved, as well as address a tax issue stemming from the donation of the property by the Union Pacific Railroad, which mandated that the building be sold to a private buyer if the county stopped using the property, according to the backup material provided to county commissioners.

Union Pacific would then get a tax credit based on the property value; if the building is not sold and entered onto the tax rolls, the county may end up liable for that tax credit.

Gillespie said that from a location perspective, the nearby federal courts, and the yet-to-be-finished Regional Justice Center, make downtown a sensible location for law enforcement administration.

"That particular site would meet many of our needs as an organization, being down in that criminal justice corridor," Gillespie said. "That site, we feel, will not only benefit us but also downtown Las Vegas."

Las Vegas City Manager Doug Selby agreed.

"Metro staying downtown is a positive thing for the city," Selby said.

Las Vegas contributes about 40 percent of Metro's annual budget.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman also agreed that "the city would benefit in many ways."

He said through the lease-back proposal, in which a builder constructs the building and leases it to Metro, the property would stay on the tax rolls.

"And two, it's imperative that in order for us to accomplish our dreams downtown we have a strong police presence," he said.