What's Happening in Vegas..........

Las Vegas may be experiencing an unwanted trend in housing foreclosures, but the city’s Office of Business Development and Director of Business Development Scott Adams is up to his chin with great development projects.

I am especially interested in a mixed-use project Adams is heading that is a picture of creative thinking. The city of Las Vegas acts as its’ own redevelopment agency and in the case of planting a sure-to-please tourist attraction that will tap into a downtown area two blocks from “Vintage Vegas”.

The Mob Museum – planned for a city-owned block of downtown property – will bwe located on Stewart Avenue between Casino Center and 4th Street and will celebrate Las Vegas’ rich Mob history. This creative plan is spring boarding off the 20-million annual tourists who visit downtown Las Vegas.

“Vintage Vegas” represents the birthplace of gaming in 1930’s Nevada. When casino development began its spread and moved down the boulevard, like so many suburban shifts, the life was sucked out of downtown Vegas.

The Fremont Experience – an exciting, thriving improvement district features the world’s largest LED screen, historic casinos and soon, just two blocks away, the Mob Museum. Adams explains that unlike other museum projects that are built first and then attract development, this project is rising up inside an already established tourist area.

The Mob Museum will be housed in a historic post office, one of the few remaining original downtown buildings. This mixed-used development plan includes the surrounding land. The site currently houses a bus terminal and a scarcely maintained and problematic city park – a favorite night spot for the homeless. The bus terminal is being relocated under a separate project.

The Post Office, which will be the focal point of this project, sits directly across the street from the Lady Luck Casino, currently undergoing renovation by CIM – a nationally recognized Los Angeles, CA investment and development firm. 

The city has a financial consultant evaluating the prospect of a fall $50 million bond issue to find the museum and surrounding streetscape. There has been some demolition and small renovations, but once that funding is secured the city and museum developers are primed to immediately roll out what they expect to be an 18-month project.

We paln on following the progress of this project, particulalrly the Mob Museum so check back regularly.