This planned Starbucks drive-thru will be a rarity for downtown

By Mick Akers

Tuesday, May 16, 2017 | 2 a.m.

A new Starbucks opening isn’t necessarily out of the norm.

But for downtown Las Vegas, the drive-thru coffee shop on Casino Center Boulevard and Clark Avenue likely won’t be a regular occurrence in the area’s development.

Plans for the Starbucks with a drive-thru were approved shortly before the Las Vegas City Council approved the downtown master plan last summer, which includes the discouragement of drive-thrus in the civic and business district.

In the future, the city could ban drive-thrus in the area, but those discussions are just getting underway.

“It’s going to be the only drive-thru approved for this immediate area of downtown,” said Mitch Ogron, developer of the site who will lease the building to Starbucks.

Although there are no official restrictions on drive-thrus, other nearby parcels aren’t built for them, said Chris Summerfield, planning section manager for Las Vegas.

“It’s probably going to be the only drive-thru that a current site accommodates or that I would anticipate that we will have going forward,” Summerfield said.

The inclusion of the drive-thru is key, according to Ogron, because of the large volume of Starbucks sales tied to the service.

“About 70 percent of Starbucks retail sales are drive-thru based, so I’m told,” he said.

Officials say the drive-thru is not the only feature that will set the location apart — the design of the building will as well. Ogron said he met with the Downtown Design Review Committee and spoke about making the location something outside of the usual Starbucks look.

“It’s not going to be prototypical — it’s going to be kind of a centerpiece Starbucks for Las Vegas,” he said. “While it’s a small project, it’s in an area that is significant architectural-wise.”

With the Regional Justice Center, City Hall, the Regional Transportation Center and the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health all in the vicinity, having a uniqueness for the Starbucks was vital.

“We looked to those major structures and the architectural elements in the neighborhood and tried to come up with a building that would not only be compatible architecturally, but also one that would sit well with the Starbucks brand,” Ogron said.

The nearly 2,500-square-foot site will consist of a steel-constructed building with a mid-century modern touch to it. In addition to the drive-thru, the Starbucks will have a pedestrian plaza and an open interior design, clear of columns inside the structure, to increase the flow of the space.

“A lot of time you want to get out your office downtown and you want a place where you can sit down, have a coffee, relax and get out of your setting for a bit,” he said. “There’s not too many places to go (in that area), besides Fremont and Ogden. This will be a nice little rest spot right across for the courthouse and City Hall.”

The surrounding residential condominiums in the area will also help drive business to the Starbucks once complete, Ogron said.

“There are a little over 900 residential units in a six-block radius,” he said. “Add that to the about 2.5 million square feet of government and professional office within an about four-block radius … we think it will be successful there and it’s an amenity to the downtown core.”