Thursday, Feb. 12, 2004 | 11:18 a.m.
Developer John Edmond is attempting to build a $55 million retail center in the heart of West Las Vegas, an economically stagnant area that has not seen much new construction over the years.
It's a precarious deal, involving the donation of city land and a deadline that gives Edmond until the beginning of March to complete enough leases to secure a loan so he can start construction. Otherwise, the city will take back the land and start looking for a new use for it.
"I'm not running out of patience. It's progress in the making," said Councilman Lawrence Weekly, who nonetheless issued the deadline. "You're talking about years of neglect."
The land is at the southwest corner H Street and Owens Avenue. Just south is the Evergreen Apartments, and downtown is visible to the southeast. The Stratosphere Tower is visible due south, and Owens offers a clear view of the Spring Mountains to the west.
On the other side of Owens is the Nucleus Plaza, an aging strip mall filled mostly with government agencies that also was developed, years ago, by Edmond.
The Studio 1 Barber Shop is a fixture of Nucleus Plaza. Recently, the place was buzzing over what was happening with the new project.
"We were worried he might not get funded. That was the topic of this morning, whether he's going to start or not," Marcus Allen, 32, said.
Allen, who plans to open a barber shop called Masterpiece at Lake Mead Boulevard and J Street in the summer, said the area can be compared to downtown.
"If you can't look down on that, you can't look down on this," Allen said, referring to the area's designation as a redevelopment zone. "It's like my '64 Impala. I had to redevelop my car. Now it's a classic, like this is a classic right here."
Angie Richard, 39, has a personal stake in whether Edmond builds the shopping center. She said she signed a lease to open her own shop, Executive Cuts, in the new mall.
"It's new," she said in response to a question about why she picked a space across the street from where she currently works. That appearance is important to her, she said.
"It's like applying for a job -- you want to look good," said Richard, who added that very little is built in her neighborhood.
Her experience is supported by the numbers. From the fourth quarter of 2002 to the third quarter of 2003, West Las Vegas saw eight new commercial projects valued at $6.8 million, four commercial additions valued at $8.8 million and 11 commercial remodels valued at $385,000 in.
That compares with citywide figures that calculated 286 new commercial projects valued at $107.4 million in the same period, 22 commercial additions valued at $14.4 million and 920 commercial remodels valued at $66.4 million.
Leasing agent Frank White said those numbers present an opportunity, if the project pans out, for retailers to have a market to themselves.
"Here's the beauty of this entire trade area. There is no real competition within a three-mile radius," White said. "You almost have to go up 4 1/2 miles to Martin Luther King and Craig, to Lake Mead and Decatur ... and to the south (U.S.) 95 chops it off. To me, that's a retailer's dream, where there's no competition and a viable trade area you get decent sales from a store.
"We believe the people in that trade area deserve the same goods and services the people in the suburbs deserve. It is a pure fact that these folks are no different than people in the suburbs and have a basic right to goods and services."
However, he acknowledged the difficulty in trying to sell that idea to merchants who may be afraid of the area's bad reputation or who think that the lower median income -- $27,981 in West Las Vegas, versus a city average of $44,069, according to the 2000 census -- means less demand for services. And he said that merchants assume they'll pay lower rents, although that's not so for a number of reasons.
"We pay the same cost" of development as in the suburbs, White said. The buildings are what he termed "smart," meaning the space can be arranged for large or small users, and they're outfitted with the latest in technology to allow multiple high-speed Internet connections, for example.
White, who with Edmond needs to secure signed leases on about 40,000 square feet of space to get the financing to start construction, said: "We're working enough deals in the pipeline now to satisfy ownership and the lenders. Yes, time is not on our side, but over the next 30 days we're doing everything we can do get what we need. We have the tenants; it's just a matter of finalizing the deals."
He said they have 12,000 square feet under contract.
Edmond said if it works out, the loan will close March 5, and construction will start March 12.
"That area is not the easiest place to do business," Edmond said. "I am interested in making things happen to benefit people in that community. If we don't pull it off in time, it has nothing to do with lack of effort. Our commitment is to develop it. If we don't, it goes back to the city. Whether they let it sit there or not I don't know."
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