Panel says LV can learn lessons from L.A. growth history

Dan Kulin

Friday, Feb. 25, 2005 | 9:07 a.m.

Southern Nevada is a lot like Los Angeles was 75 years ago, and if it continues to follow that pattern, growth will overflow the valley during the next decade, with residents facing severe traffic congestion and pollution, a panel of development industry leaders said Thursday.

Meanwhile, downtown Las Vegas, if it follows the path of other downtowns, will likely see a birth or rebirth as new development and redevelopment comes to fruition, they said.

Wade Killefer, a Santa Monica architect heavily involved with the redevelopment in Los Angeles, said the Los Angeles historic district was dying for 30 years. Many buildings, he said, would have retail shops on the ground floors but were vacant above that, he said.

Now, however, many of those buildings built between the 1920s and 1950s are being turned into residential buildings, and thousands of new apartments are coming on the market in Los Angeles, he said.

"There may be a birth and rebirth at the same time. ... It's the organic nature of the city," Killefer said.

Downtown Las Vegas is already seeing the rising land values and rush of plans for high-rise condominiums -- although Las Vegas' boom is largely expected to come from new construction.

"Every high-rise condominium builder in the world is here. This town is really booming," said Anthony Marnell, owner of Las Vegas-based Marnell Corrao Associates, which is building Wynn Las Vegas and has built many other Strip hotels.

Edward Roski, a real estate developer and part owner of the Los Angeles Kings and Lakers and the Staples Center where those teams play, said the construction of the Staples Center was a catalyst for other development in downtown Los Angeles.

The arena opened in 1999, and Roski said that during the last five years $2.3 billion has been invested in downtown Los Angeles.

Before the revitalization, "there was no reason to be in Los Angeles after dark," Roski said. But in recent years, the downtown has taken on a new nightlife with new restaurants opening and others that once closed early now staying open for dinner.

But Roski, who also owns the Silverton hotel and has other Southern Nevada commercial developments, said the growth and revitalization of Los Angeles provide some lessons for others, such as Las Vegas. Los Angeles' growing pains included increased traffic congestion and pollution, and highlighted need for more affordable housing, he said.

Las Vegas, Roski said, is "a unique and booming market" with a "growth machine that shows no signs of slowing down."

And with developable land becoming scarce in the valley, Roski said the population will "spill out of the valley" in the next decade.

Roski, Marnell and Killefer spoke Thursday at UNLV about development and growth. The three were the panel members for a public forum titled "Loving Las Vegas" put on by the university's School of Architecture.

The panel members said that while growth will continue, it is also important for the city to develop the cultural arts, and instill a sense of community.