NLV takes a pass on downtown redevelopment plan

By Jeff Pope

Thursday, June 4, 2009 | 12:54 a.m.

North Las Vegas city leaders want to spur downtown redevelopment in the area between Las Vegas Boulevard North and Interstate 15, north of Lake Mead Boulevard, known as “the island.”

On Wednesday, a developer brought the city Redevelopment Agency a plan to turn the island into an urban village with shops, offices, apartments and condos.

The agency’s board, comprised of the city council members, chose to pass and instead will request proposals from other developers, then weigh its options.

During the past several years, the redevelopment agency purchased various properties in the island area when they became available at fair market value.

Those properties are a patchwork of parcels that are too difficult to develop as one project so the agency is looking for developers to help.

Mayor Michael Montandon said for any project to succeed there, the city would have to partner with a developer with deep pockets.

“We bought with no eminent domain … the low-hanging fruit, the easy parcels to buy,” he said. “We’re pretty much done with that. To go out and buy the remainder of these parcels is going to take some serious financial commitment.”

The developer, NLVI LLC, presented a plan in which the city would option its parcels to the company while the company attempts to acquire the remaining pieces to build the large project.

The city would retain the title of its properties until the developer is ready to build.

NLVI is listed with the Nevada Secretary of State as a foreign limited liability company.

Bob Gronauer, a local attorney representing NLVI, said the company has about $9 million in escrow. He didn’t say how many parcels the company was attempting to purchase.

To make that kind of an investment, the developer needs some assurance the city’s lands would still be available to it, Gronauer said.

"You actually have a developer today who has control of those parcels," he said. "No one else is going to qualify for this RFP (request for proposals) property that’s before you today."

The board voted 4-1 to pass on the option plan even after hearing earlier that another key piece of the downtown redevelopment plan will be delayed.

There may be an even better offer out there for the city, Councilwoman Stephanie Smith said.

“When things turn around there may be other proposals that come in,” she said, adding that agreeing to this plan would limit the city’s options down the road. “If you want to hold on to that we can hold on to it just as well and wait for the economy to turn around and wait to see what’s going to come down the road.”

The proposal didn’t include the project’s impact on schools, traffic and infrastructure, Councilman William Robinson said.

Gronauer replied that the project is still a concept and those details would be worked out during the planning process with the city.

“We’re just asking to get our foot in the door,” he said. “If the city does not want us to get our foot in the door, then that’s fine. Then tell us, ‘take your $9 million and go to another jurisdiction and make that investment somewhere elsewhere someone else wants development.’”

Mayor-elect Shari Buck said the city could still talk with NLVI about the plan but also voted to seek other options.

No other developers have come forward with a plan for the island, she said.

“I’m not opposed to giving this developer the opportunity to come in and work with the city to see what kind of agreement can be made,” Buck said. “We can protect ourselves through the development agreement.”

Earlier in its meeting, the board heard that the $110 million Las Flores shopping center near the Silver Nugget Casino won’t open next year as planned.

Michael Townsend, chief operating officer of the Montecito Properties, said the downturn in the retail market has caused the company to delay its plans for 12 months.

“Although our major anchor has not pulled the plug on Las Flores, they have, however, been reluctant to open,” he said.

The company continues to talk with other potential anchor stores for the 352,000-square-foot shopping center, Townsend said.