Tuesday, May 2, 2006 | 7:26 a.m.
Although Las Vegas City Hall still is revising its precise plans for the coveted 61-acre site on downtown's western edge, one thing that apparently will not be there is a new City Hall.
With many key decisions yet to be made - including whether to build a new City Hall or renovate and expand the existing one - some city leaders have targeted their search for a new home on a parking lot owned by the Plaza hotel, across the railroad tracks from the 61 acres.
"We're focused on that one site," said Deputy City Manager Steve Houchens. "It's a great location, but we don't control it."
That could change, however. The city and representatives of Tamares, owners of the Plaza, are involved in negotiations for both the parking lot land and the 7 to 10 acres that the hotel wants on the 61 acres.
Past plans for the 61 acres have shown a new City Hall near the middle of Union Park, the working name for the future development on the former Union Pacific land the city now owns. That development is expected to include residential and high-rise office buildings, along with performing arts and Alzheimer's research centers.
A new Union Park master plan, expected to be made public in two to four weeks, will retain most of those elements - but exclude a new City Hall, which, assuming a land deal is concluded, could be moved several hundred yards north to the Plaza site.
That plan also could reserve space for a new Plaza hotel tower, attached by a pedestrian bridge over the railroad tracks to the existing tower.
Although city leaders would not comment specifically on the progress of the land talks, Tamares' local top man, Michael Treanor, said the two sides are closer to an agreement giving the casino land on the 61 acres than to securing a deal for the possible site of a future City Hall.
A recent internal report reconfirmed city leaders' contention that Las Vegas needs a larger City Hall. Another study in progress, being overseen by Houchens, will examine the costs and other issues involved in the decision whether to expand or build anew.
Even as they await that report, some elected officials already strongly support a new building.
"We'd all love a new City Hall," Councilman Lawrence Weekly said. "We are a brand new city, and it's time we give our city the best. But we have to figure out how to pay for it."
Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman argues that building City Hall on the edge of the 61 acres would "create a terrific flow of energy" between future development there and the existing downtown development.
While Houchens said his report will examine the possibility of expanding City Hall's current building, his boss, City Manager Doug Selby, said, "the chances of revisiting expansion are slim."
One reason is that the existing City Hall would likely require millions of dollars in renovations simply to remain open. There are problems with the electrical system and some other mechanical systems, and the mayor and Weekly said a sewage-drainage problem plagues the basement.
Renovating the 33-year-old City Hall and adding an expansion could cost as much as a new building, Goodman said.
Although preliminary estimates put the price tag of a new City Hall at $210 million and an expansion at $111 million, other factors would affect the comparative cost evaluation.
"The value of this dirt could be enough to build a new City Hall," Councilman Larry Brown said. "Now I know that's being too optimistic, but that has to be part of the equation."
Scott Adams, director of the Office of Business Development, said the existing City Hall could fetch a steep price.
"We're on Las Vegas Boulevard and a highway interchange - that's pretty rare. They aren't making any more of that," Adams said. The land under City Hall, he said, could sell for $8 million an acre - or more if it is zoned for a casino.
The main City Hall campus, which includes the main tower and two parking garages, covers about 16 acres.
Another factor to be weighed is the possible redevelopment boost that a new City Hall could bring to an area. That was the thinking behind the plan to possibly place a new City Hall - and its hundreds of workers - on the 61 acres.
But Goodman, who has taken a very hands-on approach to planning for the 61 acres, said there is so much private interest in the vacant land that a new City Hall should go near but not on it.
"We're all rethinking our best options now," Brown said.
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