Redevelopment agency OKs downtown revitalization

Brew pubs, art galleries, bookstores and trendy eateries. Not things normally associated with downtown Henderson.

But a group of longtime residents wants to see these types of businesses develop and inject life into the downtown area they have watched dissipate over the years.

Phyllis E. Thompson Companies received the go-ahead Tuesday from the Henderson Redevelopment Agency to enter into a 180-day exclusive negotiating agreement for the redevelopment of about 5 acres on the northeast corner of Basic Road and Water Street.

A resident since the 1950s, Phyllis Thompson said she wants to see the heart of the city returned to downtown, which has not experienced the explosive growth found in Green Valley or along Boulder Highway.

Thompson said she owns four parcels on the development site adjacent to 15 lots owned by the redevelopment agency, which doubles as the City Council. The parcels line Water Street between Basic Road and Ocean Avenue.

The first phase would include a four-story, almost 100,000-square- foot office building with a four-story, 172,000-square-foot parking garag, according to Victor Vincent, director of construction for the project.

"The first story of the parking garage would include 15,000 square feet of retail and on the second floor, there will be 15,000 square feet of office space in addition to parking," he said.

Vincent said phase one -- proposed for the northeast corner of Basic Road and Water Street -- also includes a single-story, 21,800-square-foot retail center.

A resident since 1943, Vincent envisions varying rooflines and meandering walkways that will entice residents and visitors to spend their days downtown.

"We're looking for trendy shops, fine eateries, art galleries," he said.

To achieve the right look, the company has hired the same architectural firm that designed the New York-New York and Monte Carlo hotel-casinos and is working on Scottsdale, Ariz., redevelopment project, Vincent said.

Vincent hopes the Thompson project will be the catalyst to rebuild downtown "all the way to Lake Mead Drive."

The company has been working with the city to develop the project for seven months, according to Vincent.

"The redevelopment agency has done a lot of hard work, because our plan is conceptual," he said. "We didn't come in with a full-blown plan. The only way this will work is through a collaboration between the company, the city and the Chamber of Commerce."

Councilman Andy Hafen expressed concern over the length of the negotiations, but Mayor Jim Gibson, who sympathized, said these kinds of projects take time.

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