World Market Center blazes trail for LV diversification

By Buck Wargo

Friday, Feb. 5, 2010 | 3 a.m.

During Preview Las Vegas, the World Market Center was touted as an example of Southern Nevada economic diversification.

The winter trade show for furniture manufacturers runs through Feb. 5, and backers project attendance at more than 50,000.

Robert Lang, director of Brookings Mountain West at UNLV, said recently that World Market Center could serve as an impetus to make Las Vegas a center for furniture design and generate high-paying jobs.

“That is part of our aim,” said Randy Wells, vice president of World Market Center’s design center. “Our mission is to create a hub for furniture design. That is something over time that will build exponentially.”

The industry is spread across the country with designers mainly in California, Michigan, North Carolina, New York and Florida, he said. They don’t need to be near furniture manufacturers to be successful, but Las Vegas already has people who design for the hotel industry, he said.

“I have lived here almost two years, and there is a tremendous amount of creative talent right here in our own back yard,” he said.

Former Jackson home sells

A 16,400-square-foot home where Michael Jackson resided in 2007 and 2008 has sold for $3.1 million.

Jackson rented the home southeast of Buffalo Drive and Sahara Avenue. The home was taken back by the lender, Eastern Savings Bank, in lieu of it going through foreclosure with the previous owner, said Carolyn Mullany, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Premier.

Mullany said it is the largest home sold in Las Vegas in more than a year.

The sale was closed and recorded Jan. 27, she said. A California couple paid cash for the home, she said.

The estate sits on an acre and is gated with 8-foot walls surrounding it.

The home features seven bedrooms and three office suites, an elevator, large formal rooms for entertaining, a theater and orchestra loft.

The master bedroom measures 2,000 square feet with a large covered patio, his-and-her closets, a 10-head shower and a Jacuzzi, Mullany said. The master bedroom also has a secret exit to a rooftop deck designed for sun bathing.

The fitness room features a dance floor, and the home has basketball and tennis courts.

Jackson’s use of the home generated a lot of interest and calls about the property, Mullany said.

In other news

• The College of Business at UNLV will induct the late Keith Schwer to the Nevada Business Hall of Fame. Schwer was UNLV’s chief economist and director of the Center for Business and Economic Research. Other inductees include John Ascuaga, founder of the Nugget casino in Sparks; the late Sam Boyd, a gaming innovator; and Pat Mulroy, general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority.

The College of Business created the Nevada Business Hall of Fame in 2002 to recognize innovators who have contributed to the economic prosperity of Nevada.

The ceremonies are at 7 p.m. Feb. 11 at the Mirage.

• The Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada and Boyd Law School at UNLV are offering online classes for consumers who are considering bankruptcy. For more information, call 386-1070, ext. 155.

• ProLogis’ lease to Canadian furniture manufacturer Foliot Furniture is the largest industrial lease in Las Vegas in 20 months, Jim Rodriguez, vice president and market officer of ProLogis, said of the Placid Street Distribution Center Building One near McCarran International Airport. Foliot will open the facility in May, creating more than 200 permanent jobs and 100 to 150 seasonal positions. The building is 309,000 square feet.

Buck Wargo covers real estate and retail for In Business Las Vegas and its sister publication, the Las Vegas Sun. He can be reached at 259-4011 or at [email protected].