Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2004 | 9:36 a.m.
Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman and City Councilman Lawrence Weekly will lead a contingent of city officials and advisers leaving today for Florida and then Pittsburgh to meet with the potential developer of 61 acres downtown and another interested group.
The Las Vegas group will get a first-hand look at Related Co.'s City Place development in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Thursday. They will also meet with the city's former mayor and Related Co. representatives.
Las Vegas and Related representatives are in the process of negotiating a development agreement for the former Union Pacific Railroad yard, which Goodman has been at the forefront of promoting.
Half of the group will then head to Pittsburgh to speak with representatives from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center about their possible involvement in an academic medical center planned to be part of the 61-acre project, which the city has named Union Park.
The city is also in talks with the University of Nevada School of Medicine about coming to the planned academic medical center.
Goodman said the Florida visit is just part of properly investigating the company that could become a major partner in the revitalization effort of downtown Las Vegas.
"This is the future of Southern Nevada," Goodman said.
Weekly, whose council ward includes the property, said he is very excited "to see what the developer has done in another city that might be similar to ours."
The councilman said he's also excited for the mayor, who "has his whole heart and soul in this ... it's his vision ... and finally we're at the door."
Goodman said the City Council could be presented with a development agreement for the 61 acres by the end of the year. Related Co. would still be expected to give the city a nonrefundable $2 million deposit as a condition of the development-plan approval, he said.
City Manager Doug Selby, who is also going on the trip, said it is probably more likely the council will be asked to approve an exclusive negotiating agreement with Related first, and a detailed development plan would come sometime later.
Selby said he hopes that by meeting with the former West Palm Beach mayor, the group can learn what went into creating the development agreement between that city and Related.
Some Las Vegas taxpayers' money is expected to be spent on the project, and Selby said that would probably come through the city's Redevelopment Agency. How much public money will be provided to the project is still being negotiated, he said.
Goodman, Weekly and Selby will be accompanied by City Engineer Charlie Kajkowski and four private-sector people who have been advising or otherwise involved in the planning of Union Park.
The four are Dan Van Epp, former president of Howard Hughes Corp.; James Betz of Juliet Properties Co.; Don Snyder, president of Boyd Gaming Corp., and Myron Martin, executive director of the Las Vegas Performing Arts Center Foundation.
All eight are going to Florida, but only the city officials are going to Pittsburgh, Selby said. The trip is being paid for by the city, and so far is expected to cost $9,725, officials said.
Goodman said most of the group will be back in Las Vegas by Friday night, although he is planning to take a short personal trip, which he said he will pay for, after the city trip.
Union Park is proposed to be a mixed-use -- residential and commercial -- development, which would also include a performing arts center, academic medical center, and Alzheimer's research facility.
City officials are also looking into whether a new City Hall should be built on the land. If that happened, the existing City Hall would be turned into a residential complex.
Goodman said plans to buy land for a possible City Hall expansion are on hold until the possibility of a new City Hall on the 61 acres is fully explored.
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