Public to help pay for landscaping at bank building

Sito Negron

Thursday, Sept. 2, 2004 | 8:36 a.m.

The Las Vegas City Council agreed to kick in $94,400 for a public landscaping project next to a downtown building owned by a prominent Las Vegas developer.

The project is meant to complement a larger private landscaping project at a bank building owned by a group that includes as a principal Irwin Molasky, the influential developer.

The City Council unanimously approved the item Wednesday.

The council allocated the money after a finding that "no other reasonable means of funding" the work were available.

Mayor Oscar Goodman appeared to balk at the finding, for which Molasky's group, Bridger Associates, signed an affidavit. "He's maybe the only person in town who's richer than I am," Goodman joked.

Jennifer Lazovich, representing Bridger Associates, said the affidavit referred only to the portion of work to be done on public right of way. The building is at 300 S. Fourth St., next to the Lewis Avenue Corridor, a small park also known as "Oscar's River" for the trickle of water that runs through it.

John Redlein, deputy city attorney, said that the city's finding must be that the work would not take place without the money.

Bridger Associates plans to spend $1.3 million for improvements to the building, which contains a Starbucks and Bank of America offices.

"By increasing the building's competitiveness, the (city) will help retain the office tenants for downtown Las Vegas," city staff wrote in documents prepared for the meeting.

Scott Adams, the director of the Office of Business Development, said the city would soon begin a $1 million program aimed at helping downtown merchants fix up their facades. Called the Commercial VIP program, it will provide up to $50,000 for merchants to fix up their storefronts.

Those along the major corridors of Martin Luther King Boulevard, Eastern Avenue and Main Street are eligible based on a one-to-one match, and those in the redevelopment area are eligible for a one-to-two match from the city.

While the council approved the $94,400 unanimously, at least one Las Vegan in the audience figured Bridger Associates should pay for the whole thing itself.

"There are blighted areas all over the city, where people really need that money," said Mark Adair, who called the $94,400 allocation "ridiculous."