New player joins downtown games

By Kristen Peterson (contact)

Thursday, April 26, 2007 | 7:02 a.m.

A new player jumped into the game to build an arena in downtown, unveiling its plans at an informal neighborhood meeting complete with soda and cookies.

Michigan-based developer Real Estate Interests Group (REi) showed plans for a 22,000-seat arena, three casinos, hotels and condos to a group of 40 or so business and property owners Tuesday night.

But the quaint meeting turned into a contentious battle of vision when artists and gallery owners came face to face with a proposal that would level and redevelop 73.5 acres of the gritty industrial area north of the Stratosphere.

The tract bordered by Charleston Boulevard, Main Street, Wyoming Avenue and the downtown railroad tracks now is home to furniture stores, car repair shops, small businesses, empty buildings and part of the city's Arts District.

But if REi gets its way, the area will become a mixed-use development including an arena, casinos, a sports apparel trade center similar to World Market Center, 9,100 hotel and condominium units , and more than 550,000 square feet of retail space.

Initial plans for the area, called Project Neon Lights, were revealed last year but didn't include an arena.

City officials say they need an arena to lure professional sports teams to Las Vegas. Last week, the city opened arena proposals and hopes to pick a developer within six months.

Mayor Oscar Goodman said the REi arena site at Charleston and Main would have the same chance as any other proposal - despite the fact that it wasn't among the four "preferred" sites listed in a consultant's study.

"They are in the mix," Goodman said Wednesday. "They have very deep pockets. From what I understand, they love Las Vegas and they love downtown."

Area property owners already had agreed to sell to TR Las Vegas for Project Neon Lights last year. REi would take over after those sales close in the fall.

The area is zoned for commercial and light industrial, and REi would need zoning changes to allow a mixed-use development , as well as gaming permits for the casinos.

The redevelopment could begin with arena construction in a year and would continue in phases for five to seven years, Jill Ferrari of REi says.

"It will be great to see it all plowed down someday," said Tom Prato, partner in TR Las Vegas and owner of Artistic Ironworks, which hosted Tuesday's meetings. "It would be a catalyst for things to be built here, for something great to happen."

Even if REi doesn't get the bid for the sports arena, Ferrari says, it would build an arena for year-round events, conventions and concerts. The developers haven't talked with the foundation building the Smith Center for Performing Arts in the nearby Union Park, but say their huge arena wouldn't conflict with the smaller concert center.

Artists and some business owners said they don't want the character of the area to be overwhelmed by parking garages, towers and traffic.

"If they have a great art component, then God bless them," Arts Factory owner Wes Myles said. "It's going to change. We as the neighborhood association are going to put as much influence on the design as we can. There are a handful of concerns. The Arts District is very protective of the nature of that atmosphere."

Dolores Eliades, manager of Olympic Gardens, says she's selling property on Commerce Street and supports the change: "We get to build our city all over again. I'm one of the few who love downtown. I go to the movies downtown. I eat downtown. I walk downtown. But if people don't live downtown, who's going to shop there?"

Todd VonBastiaans, who owns Atomic Todd on Commerce Street , is unhappy with the plans. "It could have been lived with if it was mixed-use only - coffee houses, book stores with living quarters above. But a sports apparel expo? I think they're trying to package it, buy it, raze it so it will sit for five years and be more profitable to sell. It's just enough information so they can get zoning changes and five years later do something else."

Sun reporter Mark Hansel contributed to this report.