Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2007 | 7:16 a.m.
Through a series of unusual moves, Las Vegas has agreed to sell 15 acres of public land to an out-of-state developer without soliciting competing offers, a move that has raised questions about just how the city does its business.
By a 4-3 vote last week, the City Council approved a plan by The Tapestry Group to build 270 affordable housing apartments at Tenaya Way and Westcliff Drive.
With that vote, the Tapestry Group can purchase 15.25 acres of federal land, valued at roughly $14.5 million, at a discount of 90 percent set by the city. The catch is that the company must create affordable housing.
Tapestry Group representative Richard Bryan, a former U.S. senator from Nevada, said rents for the units would be roughly $150 to $250 less than rents for similar apartments in that ZIP code. On its Web site, the Nevada Housing Division lists the mean rental rates in Las Vegas for a two-bedroom apartment in June 2007 as $899 and for a three-bedroom as $1,096.
Those numbers got lost in a debate led by Councilwoman Lois Tarkanian, whose ward includes the development site, about the transparency of Tapestry's deal.
Tarkanian said because Tapestry had allowed its exclusive negotiating agreement with the city to lapse, the city should invite other bidders to submit proposals.
But Gene Wilczewski, Tapestry's project manager, warned that the company would not go through that process, saying it would walk away from the plan if forced to respond to a request for proposals, or RFP.
"This is worth millions and millions of dollars," Tarkanian said. "This is our responsibility ... and (the public) is trusting us to do it the right way. I'm very concerned about their reluctance to go through the RFP."
The city, under Manager Doug Selby, recently enacted guidelines under which all projects must go through the RFP process. The Tapestry development, however, would be exempt because the company began negotiating with the city about 2 1/2 years ago.
Tarkanian brought up other issues - and didn't let them go.
A packet she handed out to other council members included an e-mail from Thomas Perrigo, deputy director of the city's Planning and Development Department.
Perrigo said he'd called Panama City, Fla., officials to ask whether Tapestry had been approved to create a similar project there. Tapestry's Web site says it will open 264 apartment units in Panama City in 2009. But, Perrigo wrote: "Panama City is aware of a project that is being proposed, but ... they weren't aware of a project being submitted officially to the city."
Contacted by the Sun on Tuesday, Dan Childs, plan reviewer for Panama City, said "nothing has been submitted to our office for review or anything. We have no idea on it."
Wilczewski said the confusion stems from the different ways the two municipalities do business. He said Tapestry has an oral commitment from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on the affordable housing planned for Panama City, that engineering is being completed and within 30 days, a full loan package would be submitted.
"We will close that project in March of next year," he added.
Linda Menk, a loan officer and mortgage banker for Column Guaranteed, which is underwriting Tapestry's $34 million Las Vegas project, said: "There's a lot of confusion going on here.
"Our architects are working on it," Menk said. "We do not have a site plan. Civil engineering should be back in three weeks. The general contractor is ready to start the cost process. We're in the process of pulling it together."
Tarkanian also pointed out that Tapestry's Web site had already listed Nevada as one of its "Apartment Community Locations."
"It's hard to substantiate the facts," she said.
She also questioned Bryan's presentation when, early on, he said Wilczewski and Tapestry "together have developed some 5,600 residential units." Tarkanian searched, but said neither she nor city staff could find a "documented history" to substantiate those numbers.
Wilczewski clarified that point, saying that over 45 years, he has been responsible for the development of several thousand units. To date, he added, Tapestry had not built anything, though it was moving through the process in four states, including Nevada, to develop several hundred units.
Another issue came up after the City Council meeting when it was disclosed that Wilczewski had been twice listed on the federal government's Excluded Parties List in 1997. People on the list are "excluded from receiving federal contracts, certain subcontracts, and certain federal financial and nonfinancial assistance and benefits."
But Wilczewski said Tuesday he was taken off the list shortly after he learned he'd been put on it. He also stressed that being on it does not mean he did anything wrong. In fact, he said, he was a limited partner in two projects, one in which someone absconded with money and another with someone being investigated by HUD.
"And HUD's philosophy is, whether there is a perceived or actual problem, the first thing they do is cast a broad net over everybody involved," he said.
People listed are not informed, so Wilczewski said he learned about it only when he applied for a new loan. After he found out, his name in both cases was taken off the list within six months.
"I'm passionate because, I hate to say it, you don't know how many cities have called us because of their needs for affordable housing," Wilczewski said. "We're not perfect, but we have honored our word through good time and bad. That's why we're still here."
His mood Tuesday was a reflection of the contentious City Council meeting last week. It got so bad that at one point Mayor Oscar Goodman demanded that city staffers step up, one by one, to say whether anyone ever "put any kind of pressure on anybody on this issue."
He was responding in large part to Tarkanian's statements that she had received comments from staffers that cast the Tapestry development in a negative light. She refused, however, to reveal the names of those city employees, saying she did not want them to suffer retribution.
In the final vote, Councilmen Rikki Barlow and Steve Ross joined Tarkanian in opposing the project, while Goodman, Larry Brown, Steve Wolfson and Gary Reese voted in favor of it.
"To attack Oscar like that ..., " Wilczewski said. "Those who voted for us should be commended and applauded for recognizing the need to go ahead and say we need to get something started."
Tarkanian said after the meeting that she wants only to do "what's best for our citizens."
"We only lost by one vote, but at least I got it on record and I'll just keep on it," she added. "I believe very strongly in the RFP process, that it makes everything even. This is what it's all about. You handle things like this on a level playing field."
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