61 acres about to meet its destiny

Sito Negron

Friday, July 9, 2004 | 11:04 a.m.

After years of waiting, the countdown to determine who will develop the 61-acre "jewel of the desert" and whether the world-renowned Cleveland Clinic will be part of the city's plans for its land in downtown Las Vegas has begun in earnest.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said Thursday that the clinic leadership is to consider a consultant's report on Monday.

Goodman, speaking at his weekly news conference, also said that the city is drafting a letter to be sent next week to 10 development groups that are candidates to be the 61-acre project's master developer. Goodman previously has said he wants requests for proposals sent out by the beginning of August.

Part of the sales pitch is a glossy brochure describing the 61 acres, downtown Las Vegas, the community as a whole, and some details regarding the project's plan -- for example, orienting the buildings to provide shade at the height of the day.

Another part of the pitch is the quickening pace of downtown development and project announcements.

The plan for the 61-acre site is for an urban village of high-rise housing, an academic medical campus and a performing arts center that would share space on the site, which is across the railroad tracks and west of Barrick Gaming's Plaza hotel and north of the Clark County Government Center.

To the north of the 61 acres is the Irwin Molasky Internal Revenue Service building, and west is the under-construction World Furniture Market and an undeveloped piece of land.

Goodman, who was in New York last week to pitch the 61-acre plot, and downtown in general, said the candidates for master developer include the Related Companies, which is helping develop the furniture market, Donald Trump's companies, and American Invesco, a Chicago company.

The mayor mentioned a number of high-rise condominium projects under way downtown -- two were expected to be approved by the Planning Commission on Thursday night -- and noted it as a sign that after years of talk, "the train is leaving and people better get on board."

Although there are multiple plans for downtown -- the high-rises, the Arts District, the hopes for a revitalized Fremont Street Experience and the adjacent entertainment district -- the Cleveland Clinic would be a major boost for the hopes of downtown.

The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, is a not-for-profit academic medical center that employs 29,000 people and pays $1.4 billion a year in salaries and benefits.

It combines health care with research and teaching, and employs more than 1,200 doctors at the clinic's main center in Cleveland and at its two other hospitals in Florida.

According to the clinic's Web site, it "was founded in 1921 by four renowned physicians with a vision of providing outstanding patient care based upon the principles of cooperation, compassion and innovation. U.S. News & World Report consistently names The Cleveland Clinic as one of the nation's best hospitals in its annual 'America's Best Hospitals' survey."

Eileen Caruso Sheil, director of media relations for the clinic, said that a group of managers is to consider the feasibility report -- for which the city of Las Vegas paid about $300,000 -- today, and top executives may look at the information Monday.

"Many of these upper level managers will be hearing this for the first time" today, Sheil said.

She said that "it's premature to say where this is headed ... we're optimistic. We're excited to look at the opportunities. (But) you have to consider, there are a lot of projects going on at the same time and this is one of many significant ones, and it's not something we enter into lightly."

She said she wasn't sure when a decision would be made, although she said it's unlikely it would be next week.

Another group that is interested in playing a role in developing the 61 acres is Barrick Gaming, which owns 35 acres of land downtown, as well as the Plaza, Las Vegas Club, Gold Spike and Western hotel-casinos.

"The (Regional Transportation Commission) needs some property for the intermodal facility and would like to put it at the Plaza, and we talked to the city about trading some of that land for land in the 61 acres," said Stephen Crystal, vice chairman of Barrick.

The intermodal facility would be the final terminal for the downtown extension of the monorail, and would include bus and possibly light-rail service. The expected intermodal site is directly south of the Plaza on land owned by Barrick.

Crystal said the master developer concept is sound, and although "we certainly have the capability to be a master developer and have been in discussions with several of the master developer candidates, I just can't tell you where we'll end up in the mix."

One of the developers Barrick has been talking to is the Related Companies, "the one who has invested, next to Barrick, the most money downtown," Crystal said.