53-story hotel-condo complex approved

Thursday, March 17, 2005 | 9:40 a.m.

In a split vote, the Clark County Commission approved a 53-story, 2,700-room hotel and condominium project adjacent to the venerable Jockey Club at Las Vegas Boulevard and Harmon Avenue.

The 4-1 approval reflected a split among owners of the Jockey Club's 348 residential properties. Some owners, including thousands who shared ownership of more than 230 time-share units in the Jockey Club, opposed the project on the grounds that the new building would be too close, raising safety concerns.

The $1.5 billion project by development group 3700 Associates, a group headed by former Venetian executive David Friedman, would include two towers, one at more than 600 feet and the other over 580 feet, with subterranean parking on eight acres on the Strip. The project would surround the Jockey Club on three sides.

Garry Hayes, a Las Vegas land-use attorney representing some property owners, said issues that had him protesting the project in November were resolved in a project redesign that took those concerns into account.

But Charles Deaner, an attorney for the Jockey Club's homeowners association, said the 14,000 time share owners and several businesses remained unsatisfied with the project and its proximity to the existing building.

"Obviously this is a major impact on this existing community," Deaner told the county commissioners.

Representatives for 3700 Associates, among them former Nevada governor Robert List, said the project designers had worked hard to eliminate most of the concerns expressed by the Jockey Club's many property owners.

The only "no" vote on the project came from Commission Tom Collins, who said he remained concerned that the 20-foot proximity of the new project and the Jockey Club would create some public safety issues.

The project developers said they will return to the county commission at a future date to address unresolved issues of parking during the construction of the two towers.