Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Property owners displaced by Project Neon hold out for more compensation

1414 Western Ave in Las Vegas

Adelaide Chen

Land on a section of Western Avenue in Las Vegas is needed for widening of I-15 and the addition of a new ramp to the Spaghetti Bowl to connect the I-15 express lanes directly to the high-occupancy vehicle lanes on U.S. 95.

Click to enlarge photo

The original boundaries of the property owned by the Meyer family that the state sought to acquire was 3.29 acres (shown above). Since then, it has been reduced to 3.15 acres.

An industrially zoned dirt lot next to the noisy I-15 may not seem like prime real estate, but in the context of Project Neon, a multibillion-dollar overhaul of 3.7 miles of freeway at the intersection of U.S. Highway 95 and Interstate 15, it could be worth $3 million an acre.

But Jess Meyers would prefer to keep the property on the 1400 block of Western Avenue. His grandparents bought the five-acre parcel in 1945. His childhood home was there until about 1960, when the construction of the I-15 required some of the land.

Since then, the family has held on to the remaining three acres, which have at various times housed the family’s businesses: a restaurant electrical contractor, an aircraft parts supplier, and a billboard for rent.

Because the Meyers refused the state’s offer for the 3.15 acre property, the state invoked eminent domain, which allows it to take the land for public purposes through the legal process, depositing $2.87 million with the county court — the amount that they believe the land is worth. A jury trial will take place next year.

But no matter the outcome, it’s a legal battle that is costing both sides a significant amount of money.

Nevada has, in part, turned to private litigators to handle its case. As of last month, the state Department of Transportation had authorized up to $15.2 million to acquire the land and pursue the cases, according to the latest board packet.

The state contracted with Las Vegas law firm Carbajal & McNutt to handle the Meyers case, spending about $13,000 to date. Board members of the Nevada Department of Transportation have also awarded the law firm another contract, worth up to $400,000, for litigation over a parcel of land where the West Charleston Carl’s Jr. is located.

Dennis Gallagher, chief counsel from the Attorney General's office, said at the July board meeting that state lawyers working on the case are overwhelmed. He said the Legislature, at the request of Attorney General Adam Laxalt, had increased the agency's transportation division in Las Vegas by an additional five members — two lawyers, two legal researchers and one legal secretary. The increase is in addition to four attorneys, two secretaries and a legal researcher, according to an NDOT spokesperson.

The state has a compelling interest in meeting their deadlines for land acquisitions: Contractors could be entitled to compensation if NDOT does not have the project sites in time for construction.

Out of 42 property owners whose land was targeted for the first phase of Project Neon, by June, 30 property owners had reached negotiated settlements. Of the 12 cases in which property owners faced eminent domain, six more have settled, and the other six have gone to trial, according to a department staff report.

Fighting the state in court can be a remunerative move by property owners. A jury awarded the owner of the land where the Charleston Antique Mall was once located about $3 million for the 1.05-acre property, nearly double the state’s original offer. The location site is a third of a mile away, walking distance from the Meyers' property.

Directly across the street from the Meyers’ property, a 7.04-acre property owned in part by former state Attorney General George J. Chanos received an offer of $25 million, roughly $3.5 million an acre. A Department of Transportation spokesperson said in an email the amount was not solely based on land value, but included nonland considerations.

Despite the ongoing litigation, the state and the Meyers have also worked together. The state relocated the Meyers’ aircraft parts supplier business, which later closed. The state has offered to relocate the restaurant electrical contracting business to Arden, an unincorporated community west of Blue Diamond. But Meyers said the location is too far south, and traveling the distance back and forth to pick up parts is an extra cost, and small restaurants are already working with narrow margins.

But he said, “How can I hold anything against anybody? “It’s just progress.”

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