Downtown development group may be on the way out

Sito Negron

Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2004 | 9:18 a.m.

The City Centre Development Corp., created in 1997 to enter into downtown redevelopment deals but turned into an advisory board with no real power, is facing sudden death.

The Las Vegas City Council today was to consider an item to dissolve the corporation, but Mayor Oscar Goodman said Tuesday that he wanted to postpone the decision until he speaks with the board members.

"I've had a very good relationship with them,and I want to make sure we're on the same page," said Goodman, who added he hopes to lean on them for consulting in the future.

He said the development corporation, in its advisory capacity, has been "tremendously helpful" in downtown planning.

When asked the last time it met, he said it was during "charettes" -- a planning process -- for the 61 acres of vacant land adjacent to downtown, where the city plans to develop a performing arts center and medical campus.

At that, Goodman said, they met not as the official body, but as individuals lending expertise to the process.

"It's been a group that's given us tremendous advice and business savvy and development advice, and I think we're at a point now where we'd like to continue to use those former members and others as advisors to the city, but not have this formal board," said Las Vegas City Manager Doug Selby.

In addition, he said, ethics rules prevent board members from investing in downtown projects, something in which former board members have expressed an interest.

Kevin Orrock, executive vice president for finance with the Howard Hughes Corp., said the board has not met since he joined last year. He said if the city did dissolve the board as a corporate entity, he'd still be willing to serve on either an advisory committee, or simply as an individual with expertise to share.

"I don't need to be on a formal board. If there's a capacity and they still think there's a need for an advisory position and they think it's going to add value to what they want to achieve, that's OK too," Orrock said.

The board's direction was changed in 2000, after City Hall conflicts between it and the Office of Business Development. City officials were quoted as saying that developers were unsure of where to go with their proposals, and council decided to place the corporation under the Office of Business Development.

Mayor Oscar Goodman was quoted as saying that although the city valued the advice from City Centre board members, "the buck stops here," a reference to the Las Vegas City Council.

The council has since become the primary developer for the 61 acres project. Council also serves as the Redevelopment Agency, which decides on projects that involve city resources -- land or tax credits, for example.

Former Mayor Jan Jones, whose administration created City Centre, said the body was modeled after a similar group in San Diego, where city leaders created an independent agency made up of developers and empowered them to create downtown projects.

"I always believed having private sector minds in developing and implementing a strategic master development plan downtown is in the community's best interest," Jones said Tuesday. "But it's certainly the decision of the mayor and council."

Of dissolving the body, she said, "they haven't utilized the City Centre Development Corporation, so there's no reason for it to exist ... I'm sure the mayor and council have their own vision,and I wish them the best in bringing it to fruition."

She said in the case of San Diego, the project took place over about 20 years.

Mike Forche, who was president of the corporation from its inception to 2000, and now is president of high-end home builder Brentwood Inc., said the City Centre Corporation was never fully accepted by Las Vegas.

"It was one of those things where it was new, and any time a new element is introduced it has to be digested by people who at that point probably felt threatened by having a private organization in there with a certain amount of influence and jurisdiction, and I don't think it ever got digested by the city," Forche said. "It was a turf battle from the beginning, unfortunately. Both could have co-existed, but it was not an effective way to do business."

He said although he has not been involved with the group since he left, given its lack of official authority and its status as an advisory board, it makes sense to dissolve the corporation and move on: "I guess it gets down to there wasn't anything for them to do and no staff to implement their recommendations."