Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Las Vegas City Council OKs soundstage, recording studio

Johnny Caswell is a showman and a salesman.

Combining show business lingo with overflowing enthusiasm, he sold the Las Vegas City Council Wednesday on his concept for a soundstage and television recording studio in West Las Vegas that could revolutionize the future of local entertainment and generate tens of millions of dollars in revenues.

"I'm so excited to be part of the future of Las Vegas -- we are totally jazzed," said Caswell, who as a singer in the 1970s recorded songs such as "You Don't Love Me Anymore" and "Carolina on My Mind." "This is the city this (studio) belongs in. This is the town. This is the one."

The council voted 4-0 to approve the project that calls for the city to defer payment on the $1.15 million parcel for five years while Caswell's company, CenterStaging Las Vegas LLC, invests more than $17 million to build the studio and hires at least 47 Las Vegans at jobs that pay $12 to $15 an hour.

Mayor Oscar Goodman abstained from considering the matter and left the dais because his son Ross Goodman of Las Vegas is one of the principals. Councilman Michael Mack also abstained because he is a friend of Ross Goodman. Councilman Larry Brown was out of town Wednesday.

That left a quorum of four. Had any one of the remaining council members voted nay the measure would have been defeated for a lack of four yea votes.

Lesa Coder, director of the city's office of business redevelopment, said the project at Martin L. King Boulevard near Mount Mariah Drive is in line with city and state efforts to diversify the economy.

If Caswell meets construction and hiring obligations for the planned four-story, 50,000-square-foot studio, the debt for the five-acre parcel will be forgiven and the property will be conveyed to him for $10. The city will hold a deposit of $1.2 million in cash and collateral until the project is completed.

Caswell's company must close escrow by Oct. 15 and begin construction by Dec. 1. It must complete construction by Dec. 1, 2004. Caswell must submit a written jobs report that documents the number of full-time employees hired at a wage of no less than $12 an hour. He must hire 35 full-time local employees within the first 12 months of operation and 12 more within the first three years of operation.

Ross Goodman said after the meeting that the company sought "the aggressive schedule because we want to break ground as quickly as possible."

Councilman Lawrence Weekly, whose ward includes economically depressed West Las Vegas, said the project will bring numerous "home-grown jobs" to Las Vegans, giving more locals the chance to work in the booming entertainment history.

Weekly said he was "apprehensive" about the proposal at first, but said after observing Caswell and his company doing production work backstage at rehearsals for a recent Divas television broadcast from the MGM Grand, Weekly said he found Caswell to be "a very legitimate man. (The project) will be a great asset to the city."

City officials say the project is expected to generate $276,000 in construction taxes, $96,000 a year in ongoing taxes and fees and $578,000 a year in projected tourism-related tax benefits.

The project could generate as much as $19 million locally in contracts related to its construction and as much as $27.5 million a year from the additional entertainment productions, according to a feasibility study conducted by the company.

Caswell and partner Jan Parent, who have since 1992 provided musical instruments and rehearsal space through their Burbank, Calif., studio for the film and TV industry, have provided production support for more than 100 shows a year, including the Grammys, the Academy Awards, the MTV Video Music Awards, the American Music Awards and the Academy of Country Music Awards.

Caswell said the new studio will be home to everything from recording productions to television sitcoms.

archive