Grant program to help downtown area

Dan Kulin

Thursday, Feb. 17, 2005 | 9:19 a.m.

To encourage improvements in Las Vegas' Downtown Entertainment District, the City Council on Wednesday approved the creation of a $500,000 grant program that will help pay for renovations or other construction at properties within the district.

The council also agreed to enter into an exclusive negotiating agreement with a group that has plans for a building at 601 Fremont St. The building was called a potential anchor for the burgeoning district.

The district covers an area east of the Fremont Street Experience within Las Vegas Boulevard, Eighth Street, and Ogden and Carson avenues.

The $500,000 Visual Improvement Program for the Entertainment District would offer -- on a first-come, first-serve basis -- property owners $50,000 in matching funds to pay for improvements to their property, Scott Adams, director of the city Office of Business Development, said.

Other plans for the district include a proposed $4.5 million streetscape plan that would include widening of the sidewalks, and landscaping along and down the middle of Fremont Street, and signs and archways showing where the district is.

The potential sale of 601 Fremont St. is seen as one of the sources of funding for the programs.

The council voted 7-0 on Wednesday to enter into a 90-day exclusive negotiating agreement with a private developer, 601 Fremont LLC, interested in purchasing the building from the city. The company is headed by Louis Birdman of Sunvest Resort Communities in Hollywood, Fla., according to city documents.

The city bought the building in Sept. 2003 for $1.2 million and would sell the building for at least $4.8 million under the initial terms of the proposed agreement, Adams said.

Potential plans for the now vacant three-story building at 601 Fremont include putting nightclubs on the ground floor and roof, and television or radio studios on the floors in between, he said.

Adams said the sale of the building and the specifics of the grant program will return to the council for final approval during the coming months.