Blow to a struggling downtown

By Mike Trask

Friday, July 25, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Across the street from Henderson City Hall, behind a bench where pedestrians can relax and enjoy the downtown scene — perhaps with a cup of coffee — a coffee shop has gone out of business.

Homemade “closed” signs hang in the tinted windows. The interior has been stripped, the murals of jazz musicians removed from the walls. A few tables remain outside, their chairs missing.

The shop had been part of the 2-year-old Water Street South, a $5.3 million building that also houses Nevada State College classrooms, the Clark County Credit Union and the Water Street Cafe.

The businesses inside this 30,000-square-foot building were part of Henderson’s ambitious redevelopment project.

But it, like the Mojo Bean, has stalled.

Five major mixed-use and condominium projects aimed at modernizing the 60-year-old neighborhood are in default, canceled or delayed for at least a year.

It’s not clear why the coffee shop closed after just a year. It was supposed to be one of the linchpins of redevelopment in Henderson — right there, across the street from City Hall. Maybe there are enough other gourmet coffee businesses. Maybe the place was poorly managed. Any number of problems can topple a small business.

Cathy Shore, the coffee shop’s owner, didn’t return our calls. Whispers at City Hall suggest there were conflicts between Shore and her partners.

Iris Corley, who owns the block-size plaza known as Water Street South, would not talk about the situation.

Michelle Romero, Henderson redevelopment agency manager, says the city hopes the space is filled soon with another coffee shop or something similar.

“We have a list of things we’d like to see there,” she says. “But ultimately, it’s privately owned.”

Of course, Romero and the city have bigger issues involving downtown redevelopment than the closing of a small coffee shop.

Among their disappointments: The owners of the completed three-story Pinnacle, a mixed-use project at Water Street and Atlantic Avenue, have filed for bankruptcy protection. That building is being used by the city and a restaurant. The owners of the Parkline Lofts condominium on Basic Road — a 65-unit project behind City Hall — have also filed for bankruptcy protection, with only a rough foundation to show for their efforts.

Aloft, a condominium project planned for Lake Mead Parkway, has been canceled. City Towers, a 15-story mixed-use project slated for Water Street and Lake Mead Parkway, has been delayed for at least a year. And the city’s sale of four acres that were supposed to become the $165 million Water Street Commons, with 165 condo units and retail space, has also been pushed back at least a year.

For sure, there are the weekly farmers market, concerts at an amphitheater connected to City Hall and a flurry of arts events. But those big-dollar projects were adding to the hope that downtown Henderson could be a destination.

The numbers tell the story.

In 2006 the city cooed that $310 million in projects were planned, completed or under construction. Today, at least $267 million of those projects are bankrupt, canceled or delayed.

So Henderson waits for the economy to rebound.

For the moment there is one piece of good news. Target, part of the 73-acre Lake Mead Crossing at Water Street and Lake Mead Boulevard, opened Wednesday.

Inside, there is a Starbucks.

But it’s a long walk from City Hall.