Bali Hai Golf Club would disappear under developer’s plan

By Joe Schoenmann

Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2011 | 4:24 p.m.

After hours of talk about leases, failing golf courses and the American way, Clark County commissioners voted to let Bill Walters redevelop 140 acres of county-owned land that includes Bali Hai Golf Club.

Bali Hai was built on Las Vegas Boulevard across from McCarran International Airport south of Russell Road in 2000. The course never generated much money, and the county never received a dime for allowing the development.

As a result, the airport asked the course’s developer, the Walters Group, for suggestions to increase revenue. The company suggested turning the course into commercial real estate.

The company moved ahead with tentative plans, then presented them to airport officials. Disagreements emerged.

McCarran officials had issues with the agreement commissioners were set to vote on. They wanted:

• To be able to reconsider the lease agreement after a few years. Walters Group has a 99-year-lease, with 87 years remaining. It’s a set $100,000 per year lease that increases with the consumer price index but no further.

• To prevent Walters Group from “poaching” any businesses that might be housed in commercial developments held by the airport.

• To prevent Walters Group from “flipping” or selling the property after three years.

Lawyers for both sides talked about fairness, a fair playing ground for business and how much money the county might make under the agreement.

The Walters Group said the $175 million project, which would include commercial and retail operations, when fully built out, would create 900 permanent jobs, $3.9 million in property taxes (equivalent to 57 county jobs), and water savings of 827 acre-feet annually because a golf course would no longer exist.

Although Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani questioned the annual lease amount, commissioners voted 5-2 to approve it.

That does not mean development will begin any time soon. The Bureau of Land Management must approve the agreement, said attorney Jay Brown, representing Walters. He expects a decision in the next few months.