OF COURSE. IT’S VEGAS.

Liz Benston

Saturday, Dec. 9, 2006 | 7:07 a.m.

Southern Nevada has long been a place where architectural imagination runs wild (think volcano, pyramid and New York skyline), where would-be developers ignore the constraints of reality and hope their spectacular - if not fantasy-based - visions will take root and become tomorrow's icons. Now come two wildly contrasting visions of where Las Vegas-bound tourists can escape - one, a towering Strip hotel that would be the second-tallest building in the world and the other, an artists' village in the nearby desert that might best befit a world of unicorns and rainbows. As intriguing as each might be, they both face significant hurdles. Is there enough water in the desert to sustain a castle? Would the Strip hotel endanger the very airplanes that deliver tourists here? But for now, who's worrying about such details?

A Texas developer is seeking Clark County approval for yet another casino resort on the Strip, this one at the site of an old water amusement park near the Sahara.

If he keeps it at a few hundred feet tall like his neighbors, approval would probably be a slam dunk.

But Christopher Milam is thinking taller. Like 1,888 feet tall, in the shape of an obelisk.

That would put it about two-thirds again taller than the Stratosphere. It would, in fact, eclipse the tallest building in the country, the 1,450-foot Sears Tower in Chicago.

"Kinda tall," one county planning aide remarked.

Too tall, says Randy Walker, Clark County's aviation director, because it would be a danger to aircraft.

The County Commission, which is scheduled to consider the plan in March, won't approve projects that don't pass Federal Aviation Administration muster. Walker says it won't.

Nellis Air Force Base brass also are objecting to the obelisk, saying it would disrupt military operations at the base.

Las Vegas has long been a magnet for over-the-top, even zany ideas - including Stratosphere creator Bob Stupak's never-built Titanic resort (the casino was going to be in the iceberg) and a hotel in the shape of a giant slot machine, a concept that gave way to the now-defunct Boardwalk.

In 2001, developers vying to build on former Union Pacific Railroad property downtown proposed a 2,200-foot hotel and condominium tower, which at the time would have been the world's tallest. The proposal made for a fascinating architectural rendering but didn't go much further.

Milam's project, presented by the commercial developer with a straight face, would be the second-highest building in the world, short of the Dubai Tower, which is under construction, in the United Arab Emirates. It would contain 5,000 hotel rooms and all the other trappings of a resort - casino, showrooms, convention halls and a dining-entertainment-retail shopping complex.

Las Vegas' tallest hotels are shorter than 700 feet , with developers maximizing the value of expensive land by building up to the maximum heights allowed by the FAA, which has already notified Milam that any building over 708 feet would be hazardous.

"I've seen (the FAA) adjust by as much as 50 feet upward," Walker said. "But this would be a huge leap It's just not going to happen."

The Stratosphere has forced departing planes to make steeper climbs and delays departures when visibility is low, FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said. The FAA recommended that Las Vegas not approve the Stratosphere, but the city's planning rules don't require FAA approval. It's rare for a municipality to overrule an FAA recommendation, however, Gregor said.

Milam has built upscale condo and retail developments in Arizona and Texas as president of privately held IDM Properties, but he has no experience building casino resorts. He was the developer behind Peter Morton's $1.2 billion condominium project near the Hard Rock Hotel - condos that were never built and planned on land that Morton is selling with the Hard Rock.

Milam has an option to buy the 27 acres, where he wants to develop the $4.8 billion resort. He won't discuss financing beyond that he is securing well-known sources for bank loans and bonds.

He isn't ruffled by Walker's opposition to his towering obelisk. "That's exactly what I'd expect Randy to say," he said. "His job is to protect the interests of the airport."

The tower has "airspace issues" that can be resolved because the tower is just north of protected airspace needed for circling planes, he said.

"Almost everyone we talk to has been delighted to see it," he said. "It adds to Las Vegas. It's an iconic building."