Soundstage, recording studio sought

Tuesday, June 17, 2003 | 11 a.m.

The Las Vegas City Council will consider a plan Wednesday that would bring a major soundstage and television and recording studio to West Las Vegas.

The deal, which was endorsed Monday by the two-person Real Estate Committee, calls for the city to defer payment on the $1.15 million parcel for five years while the company, CenterStaging Las Vegas LLC, invests more than $17 million to build the studio and hires 47 Las Vegans at jobs that pay $12 to $15 an hour.

If the developer meets those obligations, the debt for the five acres at Martin Luther King Boulevard near Mount Mariah Drive will be forgiven and the property will be conveyed to the developer for $10.

City officials say taxpayers would benefit not only from the jobs and the revitalization of an economically depressed area, but also from $276,000 in construction taxes, $96,000 a year in ongoing taxes and fees and $578,000 a year in projected tourism-related tax benefits from the 50,000-square-foot studio.

The city estimates the project will generate $19 million locally in contracts related to its construction and as much as $27.5 million a year from the additional entertainment productions the new studio is expected to bring to town.

The city says taxpayers are protected through a deposit of $1.2 million in cash and collateral to be held by the city until construction is complete.

CenterStaging, based in Burbank, Calif., is owned by Johnny Caswell and Jan Parent, who have since 1992 provided musical instruments and rehearsal space through their Burbank studio for the film and TV industry. The company, which also has a studio in the Philadelphia suburb of Bensalem, Pa., plans to stock its Las Vegas studio with $2 million worth of production equipment.

CenterStaging is involved in the production of more than 100 shows a year, including the Diva specials from the MGM Grand Garden, the Grammys, the Academy Awards, the MTV Video Music Awards, the American Music Awards and the Academy of Country Music Awards.

The Real Estate Committee, which consists of Councilmen Lawrence Weekly, in whose ward the studio would be built, and Michael Mack, approved the measure 1-0. Mack abstained because he is friends with Las Vegan Ross Goodman, one of the company's principals.

"When they first approached me I was apprehensive," Weekly said. "I thought it was some fly-by-night operation."

Weekly said he changed his mind after observing the operation backstage at a recent Divas event at the MGM Grand and researching CenterStaging's history.

"I was thoroughly impressed by what this company has to offer," Weekly said.

After the meeting, Weekly said that with the Department of Veterans Affairs set to pull out of the Guy Ambulatory Care Center on Vegas Drive at the end of the month, "I have a big ol' empty void to fill."

Weekly said CenterStaging approached the city with the plan that called for the city to give away the land. Weekly said the city in the past has sold its land for as cheaply as $1 if taxpayers benefit. In this case, Weekly said, the city is getting an excellent deal.

Weekly said that while attractive land in the city's rural northwest is easy to sell even though it is so expensive, "I have to be real creative in some (older) areas of my ward. CenterStage is getting a site that is centrally located and has easy access to the interstate."

Location played a major role in CenterStaging selecting the West Las Vegas property.

"We've been looking for three years to expand to Las Vegas because this is the entertainment capital of our country," CenterStaging Board member Steven Brown said after the hearing. "We already have a pretty strong presence in Las Vegas but this studio will allow us to do so much more."

Brown said the site is attractive to his company because it is far enough away from the Strip so that major stars can go there undisturbed to get work done, yet close enough so that his company can assist in the production of major Strip events.

The local facility would provide not only an 18,000-square-foot stage for productions, but also a state-of-the-art recording studio for Strip performers, many of whom currently have to travel to Los Angeles or other major cities for recording sessions, Brown said.

Brown said the area's crime problems won't be an issue because the studio would be next to a Metro Police station.

"We want to meet with church leaders and other representatives in the area to discuss jobs and other needs for the community," Brown said. "We also want to have an outreach program at local schools and at the community college."

Brown said the jobs will range from truck drivers to production work.

The details of the proposed contract are that the developer must close escrow by Oct. 15. The developer has to begin construction no later than 60 days after closing escrow or by Dec. 1, whichever comes first. The developer must complete construction no later than 12 months after starting or by Dec. 1, 2004, whichever comes first.

The contract also calls for the developer to submit a written jobs report that documents the number of full-time employees hired at a wage no less than $12 an hour and commitments to hire and train local residents. The developer must hire 35 full-time local employees within the first 12 months of operation and 12 more within the first three years of operation.