Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Joe Downtown: Bidding on old county courthouse to start at $10 million

Clark County Courthouse

Steve Marcus

A view of the old Clark County Courthouse Monday December 3, 2007. The county opened its new courthouse two years ago and the old building at 200 E. 3rd Street remains vacant.

The courthouse that saw the likes of defendants Sandra Murphy and Rick Tabish in the “trial of the century” surrounding the death of Lonnie “Ted” Binion may be heading to auction.

Clark County wants to auction the old turquoise blue and rust county courthouse, 200 S. 3rd St., in October. Bidding would start at $10 million.

Clark County commissioners are scheduled to consider the matter at their meeting Tuesday.

The courthouse sits on 2.76 acres of real estate in downtown Las Vegas that has become premium land as redevelopment has resulted in renewed interest in the urban core.

Proceeds from the sale will be divided between the county and city per a 1997 agreement that saw the joint purchase of property for a new courthouse and jail addition for about $19 million.

Under that agreement, the city would receive a third of the sale amount up to $5.6 million, which is how much it contributed to the property purchases in 1997. If the courthouse is auctioned for more than $19 million, the city would get an additional amount equal to a third of any proceeds over $19 million.

In May, the “as-is” fair market value of the courthouse was appraised at $10 million.

If approved by the commission, the auction would be at 10 a.m. Oct. 1 in the Commission Chambers of the Clark County Government Center, 500 S. Grand Central Parkway.

Joe Schoenmann doesn’t just cover downtown, he lives and works there. Schoenmann is Greenspun Media Group’s embedded downtown journalist, working from an office in the Emergency Arts building.

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