LV says no ‘Clear’ cash flow

Dan Kulin

Saturday, Jan. 14, 2006 | 7:32 a.m.

The Las Vegas Centennial folks have said Hell(dorado) No to Clear Channel.

Las Vegas Centennial promoter Clear Channel will not get any money back from the Centennial Committee.

The company paid $2.3 million, plus put on a July 2 Red Hot Chili Peppers Concert, to be the exclusive promoter of the centennial, which gave the company the rights to revenue from other sponsorships and merchandise.

But when projected profits did not materialize, Clear Channel asked the centennial folks to reimburse it about $620,000.

"They clearly over-projected what they could bring in in merchandising and sponsorships," said Betsy Fretwell, a Las Vegas deputy city manager assigned to work with the centennial group.

On Monday, the committee members refused the request, saying that Clear Channel needed to abide by the contract to which both sides agreed.

"It's not a question of what we can afford, it is a question of business," said commission member Steve Schorr, vice president of Cox Communications.

Commission member Bob Stoldal, vice president of news operations of KLAS Channel 8, suggested that the money that Clear Channel requested instead go to pay for future Helldorado Days parades.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, chairman of the Centennial Committee, stressed that the refusal to return any money to Clear Channel should not be seen as an indication that the committee was unhappy with the company's work on the centennial.

The mayor said Clear Channel did an "excellent job."

The long-anticipated design of a planned Las Vegas Alzheimer's center is close to completion, but local leaders are mum on what the building will look like.

Mayor Oscar Goodman led a contingent from Las Vegas to visit world-famous architect Frank Gehry last week. While at Gehry's Southern California offices, the group saw a model of the building, Goodman said.

The mayor would not say what the building looked like, but said it will be a magnificent addition to downtown.

"People will come here just to look at the outside," Goodman said Tuesday during his State of the City Address.

"I can't describe it ... but it's phenomenal," the mayor added Thursday.

The $50-million Lou Ruvo Alzheimer's Institute is expected to be the first building erected on the city's vacant 61 acres on the western edge of downtown. The land also is slated to be home to a performing arts center, high-rise residential and office buildings, and possibly an academic medical center, a new City Hall and a baseball stadium.

The design of the building is to be unveiled during a Feb. 11 fundraiser, with construction expected to begin in August.

Although The Related Cos. might be on the outside looking in as development plans for the 61 acres evolve, the company's local boss is still very much an insider in regard to efforts to bring a top professional sports franchise to Las Vegas.

Related Las Vegas President Marty Burger said he meets with Mayor Goodman about every other week to talk sports, and has "done a lot of stuff behind the scenes."

Burger said he is free to set up meetings and phone calls between the mayor and top sports executives, but he would not say what exactly he has done.

Burger also said he remains a "close personal friend of Reggie's," meaning Mr. October Reggie Jackson, who has expressed interest in bringing a Major League Baseball franchise to Las Vegas.

"At some point in time, (major leage) professional sports will be here," Burger said, adding that "baseball's the natural fit."

The latest sports rumors have the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins looking for a new home in the near future.

That was news to Burger and Goodman. The mayor, however, said he would also be interested in bringing hockey to town even though he is unfamiliar with the sport.

"I only lose on football, which I know a lot about, baseball, which I know a lot about, and basketball, which I know a lot about," the mayor said, referring to his sports wagering habit.

The contentious issue of limiting the changing of apartments into condominiums in Las Vegas is headed back to the City Council without a call for a moratorium on the practice.

The proposed new regulations would make apartment-to-condo conversions subject to council approval of a special-use permit. That would give the council the power to deny such a conversion based on nothing more than the council's desire to keep a building as apartments, city Planning and Development Director Margo Wheeler said.

Now, conversions are approved as part of what is known as a site-development review, a process that limits the council's discretion to deny conversions.

The matter is scheduled to be discussed by the council Wednesday. Wheeler said the proposed new regulations will probably go to the council for final approval in March.

City leaders' concerns about Las Vegas' shrinking apartment market prompted city staff to take a closer look at the issue, which is seen as a piece of the affordable housing issue. That is because apartments generally cost less monthly than condominiums, and so the conversions are seen as a potential problem for lower-income residents.

Faced with pressure from the development community in November, the council decided against putting a moratorium on the conversions, which would have all but stopped the practice while the new regulations were put together.

The issue for developers is that rising home prices make condos more profitable than apartment buildings, which prompts apartment owners to seek permission to convert their property into condos.

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