2008 Annual Report $*5:0'-"47&("4 Momentum
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3&%&7&-01.&/5"(&/$:2008 Annual Report $*5:0'-"47&("4 Momentum .PNFOUVN Foresight Y"DUJPO Two thousand eight was a pivotal year in the revitalization of our downtown urban core. Yet the plans, practices and programs put into place by the city of Las Vegas Redevelopment Agency (RDA) were designed with more than a single year in mind. As the heart of our city, downtown Las Vegas is dependent on actionable plans that can keep progress moving forward. 3&%&7&-01.&/5"(&/$: "//6"-3&1035 $ 13.4 million cultural oasis $ 5.5 million improvement project 5IF.PNFOUVNJT#VJMEJOH© When you think of Las Vegas, the famed Strip always comes to mind. But place where Las Vegas residents will want to live and patronize, avoiding the there’s another side to this neon-filled town. Drive north on Las Vegas Boulevard congestion and hassles associated with the Strip. for just a few miles and you reach downtown, where the history of this gambling A case in point: the newly-developed entertainment district, Fremont haven began. East. Sitting adjacent to the downtown tourist attraction, the Fremont Street By the beginning of the new millennium, the once glittery downtown Las Experience, this new entertainment district offers the enticement of more Vegas had dimmed. The challenge: turn this faded city core of aging casinos and neighborly taverns and entertainment venues than those found at the mega resorts motels into a vibrant urban center. on the Strip. The Las Vegas Redevelopment Agency joined with Fremont Street The urban renaissance has begun! Almost $18 billion worth of projects are property owners in funding a recent $5.5 million, three-block streetscape in various stages of planning and development in downtown Las Vegas. improvement project that incorporated 40-foot tall, retro-looking neon signs, Born of the need to provide amenities to encourage a diverse population wider, pedestrian-friendly sidewalks and landscaping. to live, work and play in the downtown urban core, and to capitalize and The Redevelopment Agency also devoted $13.4 million to turn a historic expand upon the tourism that was already here, the city of Las Vegas, through its Spanish Mission-style grammar school, built during the 1930s in response to a Redevelopment Agency and Office of Business Development, has embarked on population increase resulting from the construction of the nearby Hoover Dam, major efforts to revitalize this urban area. into a cultural oasis. Opened in the fall of 2008, this revitalized center houses Realizing it couldn’t – and shouldn’t – compete head-to-head with its nonprofit arts and architectural organizations, as well as performance areas. glamorous sister, the Las Vegas Strip, the new downtown emphasizes a more Also experiencing revitalization are the downtown casino hotels, including intimate, personal and pedestrian-friendly environment. It is striving to be a the Golden Nugget, the Gold Spike and the El Cortez (originally co-owned by the 3&%&7&-01.&/5"(&/$: "//6"-3&1035 13-acre development 61-acre vision = Gehry + science + performing arts + jewelry + Palmer revitalization of downtown $18 billion notorious mobster “Bugsy” Siegel) — all of which have new owners. In addition, Also in the Union Park pipeline is the 379,000-square-foot, 2,050-seat the formerly down-on-her-luck and currently shuttered Lady Luck Hotel and Smith Center for the Performing Arts, the World Jewelry Center and the Casino was recently acquired by the megawatt developer CIM Group, providing 400-room Charlie Palmer boutique hotel. On the Union Park drawing board assurances that the dream of turning this faded beauty into a renovated and is almost two million square feet of medical and office space, 2,700 residential re-positioned casino hotel offering new retail, restaurant and entertainment units, hotels, a casino and almost a half million square feet of retail. amenities will become a reality. Situated directly across from the 61-acre Union Park is a 13-acre Perhaps nothing signals the new look of downtown Las Vegas more than development site dubbed Live Work Las Vegas. With a new city hall and the City the 61-acre, vision-turned-reality called Union Park. Center Intermodal Transit Terminal serving as anchor tenants for the project, With the city of Las Vegas as land owner and master developer, and private Live Work Las Vegas is expected to start construction in late 2009. It is anticipated developer Newland Communities serving as the project manager, ground- that the project will also offer more than one million square feet of commercial breaking ceremonies recently heralded the start of phase I infrastructure construction office space and between 300,000 – 500,000 square feet of retail. for this downtown campus billed as a “city within a city.” Out of the ground This is but a sampling of the many projects planned and in development and under construction is one of the complex’s anchor developments, the 67,000- for an emerging, dynamic downtown Las Vegas. The momentum is building. square-foot Lou Ruvo Brain Institute, designed by world-renowned architect You can see it. You can feel it. Now come be part of it! Frank Gehry. The institute will be devoted to researching and finding cures for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and ALS Oscar B. Goodman (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). Las Vegas Mayor 3&%&7&-01.&/5"(&/$: "//6"-3&1035 The movement behind the momentum. The city of Las Vegas Redevelopment Agency (RDA) was founded in 1986, amended in 1989 and expanded in 1992, 1996 and 2006. The RDA promotes the redevelopment of downtown Las Vegas and surrounding older commercial districts by working with developers, property owners and community associations to accomplish beneficial revitalization efforts. The Las Vegas Redevelopment Area encompasses 3,948 acres. The area roughly includes the greater downtown Las Vegas area east of Interstate 15, south of Washington Avenue, north of Sahara Avenue and west of Maryland Parkway. It also includes the Charleston Boulevard, Martin L. King Boulevard and Eastern Avenue corridors. In 2006, the Las Vegas City Council approved the RDA’s proposal to expand the existing Redevelopment Area by approximately 750 acres. The expansion added six new areas including portions along Sahara Avenue east of Paradise Road, and sections along 3&%&7&-01.&/5"(&/$: "//6"-3&1035 Martin L. King Boulevard and Bonanza Road near the Interstate 15/U.S. Highway 95 interchange. These areas consist mainly of older commercial and manufacturing property. Assistance programs for companies located within the Redevelopment Area include Tax Increment Financing, our Fast Track program for expedited entitlements and permitting, and Visual Improvement Programs. The Las Vegas City Council serves as the RDA’s Board of Directors, with Mayor Oscar B. Goodman acting as chairman. City Manager Douglas A. Selby is the executive director and Mark Vincent, the city’s financial director, is the financial officer. Day-to-day RDA functions are led by Operations Officer Scott D. Adams, who also serves as the director for the Office of Business Development (OBD), and OBD Deputy Director Steve van Gorp. A team of 22 full-time and three part-time RDA and OBD staff members are managing redevelopment, real estate, Fast Track and economic development projects for the agency. 3&%&7&-01.&/5"(&/$: "//6"-3&1035 3&%&7&-01.&/5"(&/$: "//6"-3&1035 Downtown Las Vegas 1)050$0635&4:0'456%*08&451)050(3"1): 4QFDJBMUIBOLZPVUPUIF1MB[B)PUFM$BTJOP KYLE CANYON GRAND TETON 95 ELKHORN 215 15 CENTENNIAL CENTENNIAL ANN S S LONE MOUNTAIN LOSEE GA ALLEN CRAIG VE JONE ALEXANDER DECATUR ALEXANDER ALEXANDER LAS APAI L W CHEYENNE LAMB HUA LAKE MEAD PECOS CAREY CAREY BUFFALO RA CAREY RAINBO NCHO WASHI NGTONLAKE MEAD VEGAS OWENS SUMMERLIN NELLIS BONANZA 41 MPART WOOD A STEWART R CHARLESTON SAHARA MARTIN L KING MARTIN L HOLLY 159 VIEW EY VALL TOWN CENTER DESERT INN DESERT INN DESERT INN SPRING MOUNTAIN MOUNTAIN VISTA LAKE LA HUALAPAI FLAMINGO 15 ES TROPICANA The Las Vegas Valley MARYLAND S LAMB JON VE DECATUR RUSSELL RUSSELL GAS RN BOULDER E DURANGO SUNSET SUNSET FORT APACHE FFALO EAST CITY OF LAS VEGAS REDEVELOPMENT AREA PECOS BU ANIE WARM SPRINGS MEAD CITY OF LAS VEGAS S LAKE WINDMILL GIBSON WINDMILL STEPH VALLE VERDE JONE UNINCORPORATED CLARK COUNTY IAMOND GREEN V WIGWAM PEBBLE UP RR HEND SPUR DE BASIC BLUE D RACETRACK SERENE HORIZON RIDGE CITY OF NORTH LAS VEGAS AN 95 BERMUDA MARTI ALLEY CITY OF HENDERSON N T ROSE S GREENWAY RedevelopmentThe City Ar ofeas Las (Shown Vegas by Year Added) LAKE MEAD BOULEVARD 1986 Redevelopment1988 Areas1996 (Shown by Year2006 Added) 1986 1988 1996 2006 VEEGAS DRIVE N OWENS AVENUE D ARTIN L KI ROA ROAD WASHINGTON AVE. MARTIN L KINGM BOULEVARDBOULEVARD OS D STREE PEC PECOS . US95 NN EVAR UCE L D BONANZA ROAD VARD R RD HEART OF BRUCE STREET E E A OUL N DOWNTOWN E UL C IV LAS VEGAAS O R R ULEVA D D O FREMONT ST O B H STEWART AVENUE S ALTA DRIVE ATUR B C STREET C NE AN ALLEY VIEW B O N STREET J DE V R MAIMAIN STREET CHARLESTON BOUO LEVARD VEGAS BOULEVAR LAS VEGAS BOULEVAR PA AVENUE MARYLAND PARKWAY EASTERN AVENUE INTERSTATE 15 MARYLAND EASTERN SAHARA AVENUE Adopted March 5, 1986 Amended: Nov. 4, 1996 Amended: May 17, 2006 Ordinance #3218 Ordinance #4036 Ordinance #5830 Amended: Feb. 3, 1988 Amended: Dec. 17, 2003 Ordinance #3339 Ordinance #5652 The formula for forward-thinking. New ideas in modern urbanism are fueling greater growth in downtown Las Vegas. It’s more than redevelopment. It’s more than revitalization. It’s a thoughtful, focused approach where proven methodologies converge with new innovations to re-imagine how our city’s heart can help the city as a whole.