Neighborhood watch

Dan Kulin

Monday, Jan. 9, 2006 | 7:23 a.m.

In the northeast corner of downtown Las Vegas is a small neighborhood that has taken a turn for the worse during the last year, a product of the slow process of redevelopment.

In the shadow of City Hall is the 300 block of North Sixth Street, part of a working-class neighborhood east of Las Vegas Boulevard, made up of modest single-story houses and small two-story apartment buildings.

About a year ago, the buildings stopped being homes when their doors and windows were covered with plywood and no-trespassing warnings.

The city had plans for an expansion of City Hall and a new parking lot, and bought some houses on Sixth Street in November 2004. Barrick Gaming Corp. owned other property on the street.

Neither the city nor Barrick wanted to become a landlord there, so the boards and new fences were needed to try to keep vagrants out of the houses on the block between Mesquite and Stewart avenues.

But the city's expansion plans have stalled as city officials flirt with the thought of a new City Hall on its 61-acre redevelopment site bordering the western edge of downtown. And nearby residents are frustrated -- all they see is blight.

"It was a nice old neighborhood," said Dennis Teese, a retired electrician who lives across an alley from the boarded-up homes. "But it went to hell in a handbasket overnight. It's a ghetto for the homeless."

Other neighbors have taken to putting padlocks on their front gates, and mentioned an apparent increase in the number of homeless roaming the area.

Maria Zapata, who has lived in the neighborhood for almost 30 years, was so concerned about what's perceived as an attraction for homeless and others she'd rather not have around her home that she had a new metal-barred front door put in.

"It was very nice, but then the city came in and took those houses, and now, now it's no good," Zapata said.

Now the city is planning to demolish the three homes it bought over a year ago on that block of North Sixth. That won't completely eradicate the blight because most of the boarded-up homes are owned by Tamares Las Vegas Partners, which bought the property from Barrick last summer.

However, the city and Tamares are now in discussions that could lead to the city purchasing the remaining properties. And if not, Tamares Managing Member Michael Treanor said the company would look at having the remaining buildings demolished.

"We are in active discussions with the city right now, and something could happen in the next 60 to 90 days," Treanor said, referring to a possible sale of its land to the city or a trade for land the city owns near Tamares' Western hotel.

"If it stretches longer than that, we would consider doing something like demolition. It's not been the easiest situation managing those properties," he said, adding that they have had problems with homeless trying to break in.

"For the sake of downtown and those properties, we would look for a resolution."

Las Vegas Councilman Lawrence Weekly, who represents that area of downtown, stressed the need for residents to be patient.

"As long as we demolish it and clean up the property, the residents will see a new neighborhood evolving, and the opportunity for that to happen," Weekly said. "They just need to have some patience. If there's one thing that this job teaches you, it's patience."

However, exactly how patient the neighbors will need to be is another unknown.

Deputy City Manager Steve Houchens said the city is currently doing an internal study of the City Hall options: expand or build new.

And until that question is resolved, it's unlikely the city will part with the nearby land for other new development.

Teese, who has lived in the neighborhood for three years, expressed the feelings of several of his neighbors, all tired of looking out on the deteriorating homes.

"They need to just tear them all down," he said. "They are way beyond redemption, those homes."

His wife, Sally, said she's especially worried by the fires they've witnessed in the boarded-up buildings, including one closest to their apartment.

"I think if they just mowed them all down, it would be better."

Dan Kulin can be reached at 259-8826 or at dan@lasvegassun.com.