LOOKING IN ON: CITY HALL

Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2007 | 7:03 a.m.

With homes throughout the valley in foreclosure, new headlines detailing scandal at University Medical Center and even a bit of O.J. back in the news - even with that, evidence of the miraculous came to light last week in Las Vegas.

There's a well-founded whisper that parking meters in the downtown area adjacent to the Fremont East District, the so-called Entertainment District, will be adjusted. Dozens of people have complained about being ticketed at the meters, which are monitored until 8 p.m.

Several have been ticketed just minutes before the 8 p.m. cutoff. They've complained to owners of new businesses in the district, and the owners have complained to the city.

The argument is simple: If the city really wants to get people to come to the district, it has to level the playing field with places such as Strip casinos, which offer thousands of free parking spaces. And given that many potential customers aren't even sure they should be downtown, the city should be doing all in its power not to ticket people.

So, coming to a downtown meter near you: In the near future, the meters will be monitored only until 6 p.m.

The clock is ticking on the good folks at REI Neon/Warburg Pincus, the would-be developers of a $10.5 billion arena project in downtown Las Vegas.

But maybe a little more slowly.

At this week's City Council meeting, REI Neon's deadline for coming to a final development agreement with the city will be extended from the end of September to the end of October. For that right, REI Neon will be asked to put $250,000 into an account to pay for expenses related to the deadline overrun.

So what's the miracle here?

Well, if you're one of those who thought there was no chance for the REI Neon people to pull it off - for many reasons, including they have no experience with projects this big, they've never done a casino (which is a part of this plan), Harrah's announced a few weeks ago plans to build its own arena, and now there's this deadline extension - the city is hinting that the project is moving in the right direction.

Scott Adams, director of the city's business development office, told developers and Realtors a week ago at the World Market Center that he was more confident now that REI Neon can pull it off.

"I outlined the big four developments: Union Park, Live-work, Lady Luck and REI Neon," he said. "I said I thought things (with REI Neon) were going well, better than I thought they were two weeks ago."

Adams promised that more information would be revealed at the council meeting.

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