New IRS building touted as boon for downtown LV

Stephen Curran

Monday, April 25, 2005 | 11:05 a.m.

State and local officials this morning unveiled a new government building billed as a "vital component" to downtown revitalization.

The new Internal Revenue Service building at 110 City Parkway, adjacent to the mostly vacant 61 acres in downtown Las Vegas, will house the federal agency and will replace the previous office at 4750 W. Oakey Blvd., which closed Friday, IRS officials said.

The four-story, 92,200-square-foot facility opened to the public at 10 a.m. today after a ceremonial open house with Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman; Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev.; and builder Irwin Molasky.

Henry Lamar, IRS wage and insurance commissioner, said the new building would help the agency keep pace with the thousands of people who move to the valley each month.

"That's a lot of people and it means a lot of business for the IRS," he said.

That business will be conducted in one of the best government offices in the nation, Lamar said.

Goodman has touted the building as key component of downtown redevelopment. It sits on the former Union Pacific Railroad yard that has been the subject of proposed designs ranging from casinos to a ballpark to a medical center or high-rise urban village.

Speaking before a ceremonial ribbon-cutting this morning, Goodman called the IRS building a "standard bearer" for future development in the now-vacant part of downtown.

The IRS building, which also houses the federal mediation and conciliation center, will ultimately sit next to a 15- to 16-story facility that is expected to house the Southern Nevada Water Authority, one in a string of projects expected for the area, he said.

Prominent architect Frank Gehry, whose portfolio includes the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, signed on in March to build the $35 million Lou Ruvo Alzheimer's Center on the Las Vegas property, a move that was expected to set the project back as much as two years.

The 35,000-square-foot complex near Grand Central Parkway and Bonneville Avenue was initially expected to open in 2007, officials said.

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center earlier this month unveiled a proposal to be the lead operator of an academic medical center on the property. The project called for a partnership with the University of Nevada medical school.

The Related Cos., the building firm contracted for the project, is expected to meet with bankers this week to discuss the $250 million project.

The IRS building will open to the public at 10 a.m. today. Normal business hours will then be from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays.

"I have never seen any redeeming value in the IRS but since the building is built by Molasky (Group) and leased by the IRS it will bring in tax revenues for the city," Goodman said. "... It's a standard-bearer. This is the bar all the other buildings will have to meet."

Berkley praised what she said was the mayor's vision for downtown redevelopment.

"I kid the mayor a lot, but the truth of the matter is this is part of his vision to develop downtown," she said to the small crowd of mostly city and federal employees who gathered at the newly completed building.

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