Facility could be 'centerpiece' of downtown

Motorists approaching most major U.S. cities are greeted by a familiar skyline or, at the very least, evidence of office towers and business life at the heart of the town.

St. Louis has its famed arch. In New York the twin towers of the World Trade Center loom through the metro haze. Philadelphia's skyline emerges from the base of the Schuylkill River and Chicago's lake front gives way to the nation's tallest building.

But once Las Vegas visitors pass the glistening casinos, roller coasters and towers visible from northbound Interstate 15, their eyes come to a 178-acre void stretching from the Clark County Government Center to the Spaghetti Bowl.

By all accounts, the property is the last chance for Las Vegas to develop the type of downtown or civic center thriving in cities like Seattle, Dallas and Atlanta.

City planners envision high-rise residential buildings amid tree-lined sidewalks, cafes, art galleries and boutiques creating an urban landscape at the gateway to downtown.

Each new idea for the site is greeted with the type of boosterism that generally accompanies winning sports teams.

So it comes as little surprise to longtime downtown resident Marsha Williams that everyone from casino moguls to politicians and developers are jumping on the bandwagon for a sports arena on the site.

"They think it's an easy solution," said Williams, 52, a waitress who lives about 10 blocks from the site. "But it's not as easy as, 'If you build it they will come.' "

That line from "Field of Dreams" is on the lips of Mayor Oscar Goodman and others who reacted with giddiness when Mirage Resorts Chairman Steve Wynn announced the results of a poll he commissioned to gauge the public's interest in such an arena.

"It may just be a twinkle in the eye right now, but a sports arena could be the spark that just sets the whole downtown in the right direction," Goodman said. "Right now, it's too soon to tell, but we're going to study it."

Goodman and Clark County Commission Chairman Bruce Woodbury will co-chair a committee to examine the feasibility of an arena to house professional basketball and hockey and a performing arts center for opera, ballet and orchestral concerts.

Although there is little direct evidence nationwide linking downtown revitalization to construction of a sports arena, local officials support construction of such a facility as part of the process.

"Having some type of centerpiece downtown seems to work as part of the redevelopment puzzle," said Mike Forche, president of the City Centre Development Corp. and a member of the arena study committee.

Although that "centerpiece" could be an opera house like in Sydney, Australia, the study Wynn commissioned suggests Las Vegans would be more apt to support professional sports.

In fact, 93 percent of residents surveyed by national pollster Frank Luntz favor building a sports arena if no tax money is used. Two-thirds of the 580 people surveyed last month favor constructing such a facility with some type of tax money.

Everyone seems to agree the best spot to build an arena is on part of the 178 acres just west of the Fremont Street Experience and 9,000 hotel rooms. The site is nestled at the junction of I-15 and U.S. 95/93, providing easy access from any part of the valley.

One 61.5-acre wedge of the property -- considered the likely spot for any arena -- is owned by Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

Lehman Brothers is a publicly traded global investment bank headquartered in New York. Its holdings division frequently invests in real estate, usually buying property in foreclosure and immediately selling to developers.

The company's Las Vegas property is slightly different, in that city officials are asking Lehman not to sell immediately in hopes of finding an arena developer for the parcel.

Lehman Brothers purchased the land in July 1998 after Texas entrepreneur Paul Tanner's plans for a domed stadium on the site fell through because he couldn't get financing.

One of the biggest stumbling blocks to any arena project is cost. Not only is downtown land a premium, but new sports centers can cost at least $160 million.

And Wynn said that although he finds the prospects for an arena exciting, he is not willing to foot the bill for the project or locate it on Mirage Resorts property.

He has spoken with both NBA Commissioner David Stern and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman about the possibility of getting a franchise.

The arena study committee will have to consider whether Las Vegas is truly ready for prime-time sports.

Luntz's study found that 43 percent of Las Vegas residents would be "very likely" to attend an NBA game and that 31 percent would be likely to attend an NHL game.

The survey found that 57 percent of higher-income residents would buy either a partial or full season ticket to the NBA, compared to 51 percent for hockey.

During his failed mayoral bid, former City Councilman Arnie Adamsen said he didn't think Las Vegas could support an arena even though the valley's population is three times greater than Portland, Ore., which has an NBA team.

"No way, no how," Adamsen said. "If the city wants to truly create a new downtown environment, it's more important to attract businesses and entertainment."

Nevada Taxpayers Association President Carole Vilardo also said it is too early to predict whether local residents would approve tax increases to help fund a new arena.

"For the voters to approve anything they'll want to know what the costs are," Vilardo said. "How much will the building cost and how much will it cost to operate?"

Vilardo said any proposed new taxes or expansion of existing taxes would have to be approved by the Nevada Legislature, which doesn't meet again until 2001. Exceptions include property tax bond issues that can be put to a vote of the people. Vilardo also said she believes any proposed sales tax increase should be put to a public vote.

The fate of an arena tax vote also could depend on whether there are other tax measures on the same ballot. Vilardo said voters rarely approve all tax measures in a given election.

"Every tax also has a point of diminishing return," she said. "It gets to the point where if the tax is too high, I'm going to buy something cheaper."

Assemblyman Harry Mortenson, D-Las Vegas, a member of the Assembly Taxation Committee, said the only public funding he believes the Legislature would approve would be an increase in the hotel room tax. He said the room tax on the Strip is about 9 percent, and that each additional percent would raise about $20 million a year in Clark County.

"I would not support any taxes that would hurt the citizens, not sales taxes and certainly not property taxes," Mortenson said. "The room tax would affect the hotels and almost no local residents. It's generally a pass-through tax to tourists.

"Our room tax is the lowest in the nation. So it would not hurt, in my opinion, to raise our room tax by 1 or 2 percent."

Mortenson said an arena could be a good addition to Las Vegas, but he added that he has concerns about the proposed downtown location. As a board member with Nevada Dance Theater, he recalled how the number of season ticket holders plummeted this year when the dance group moved from UNLV to Cashman Field just north of downtown. He said many people indicated they wouldn't go downtown at night.

"A downtown location for an arena would be perfectly good if they improve the image of downtown, improve the perception of safety," Mortenson said. "They also have to improve the ingress and egress."

Though a downtown arena could be good for Las Vegas, it could be troublesome for the 15-year-old Thomas & Mack Center on the UNLV campus. The center is undergoing a $13 million renovation that will include padded seats and upgraded restrooms.

But Thomas & Mack director Patrick Christenson said a new arena could directly compete for events such as concerts, boxing and the annual National Finals Rodeo, particularly if it has more seats than the campus facility. The Thomas & Mack can hold up to 20,000 people for events such as boxing.

"The hotel venues are pretty fixed on their customers, but if an arena like ours were built it would host not only tourist events but community events," Christenson said.

He said about the only tenants the Thomas & Mack would be assured of maintaining are the UNLV Rebels and Lady Rebels basketball teams.

"Everything else would be fair game," Christenson said. "It'll take at least five years to build a new arena but by then we'll be 20 years old and we'd have to revisit our mission. The livelihood of UNLV isn't dependent on Thomas & Mack."

Regardless of whether an arena gets built, there are plans for business activity on the Union Pacific property adjacent to the Lehman Brothers site. Union Pacific's 110 acres already include streets and plans by developer Opus Corp. for an office center on five acres.

Mark Paris, president of the Fremont Street Experience, said he thinks development of the Union Pacific and Lehman Brothers sites will be a catalyst for other downtown projects.

Already, city officials point to the new federal building and Neonopolis entertainment retail center under construction and the planned Regional Justice Center as the type of "critical mass" needed for successful revitalization.

"We're going to be drawing more people downtown and they will want and need something to do after work," Paris said.

Once Opus' Parkway Center and the other projects are finished, it is hoped that enough people will work in or near downtown each day to spark the development of restaurants, taverns and coffeehouses.

That is also what Williams and other downtown residents would love to see happen.

"I've been here long enough to see these plans come and go," said Williams, a 24-year resident. "It might be the right time finally to get it done."

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