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Apr. 24, 2008
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Grand plans for big hotel

City to consider request for 61-story downtown resort

By BENJAMIN SPILLMAN
REVIEW-JOURNAL

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Developers want city approval for a hotel in downtown Las Vegas that would be as big as anything Steve Wynn or Sheldon Adelson owns on the Strip, but they haven't yet said who would pay for the resort.

The Las Vegas Planning Commission today will consider a request for a 61-story, 2,500-room hotel on the northeast corner of Charleston Boulevard and Grand Central Parkway.

The proposal, referred to in one listing as the Grand Central Hotel, includes nearly as much building space as the 2 million-square-foot Las Vegas Convention Center. It would draw customers from the World Market Center and other projects taking shape in the master-planned Union Park development to the north.

"It is interesting because it has been somewhat stealth," said Scott Adams, director of the city's Office of Business Development. "It looks like a really good project."

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    • Adams said he was impressed by the people pitching the project and that the city planning staff is recommending approval of all four agenda items related to the proposal.

    The development group includes the Merrill Group of Cos., a development and management firm with projects in Elko, Pahrump, Mesquite and Vernal, Utah. It also includes Craig Katchen, who in 2006 was part of another project across from the Grand Central site.

    That project never materialized and drew criticism from Mayor Oscar Goodman, who questioned the participation of a former state official.

    Adams said the Grand Central group, referred to as Grand Central South Partners in city documents, seems credible and ready to proceed.

    "It really appears to have some strong backing behind it," he said.

    Katchen, whose signature appeared on documents in support of the proposal, had little to say about the plan.

    "It is real early, we are just going through our entitlement," he said. "Until we get our entitlements, there is not a lot to say."

    If approved, the developers would have permission for 11,100 square feet of retail and a 260,000-square-foot convention center in addition to the 61-story, 2,500-room hotel. By comparison, the $1.9 billion Palazzo resort on the Strip is 50 stories with about 3,000 rooms. The $2.7 billion Wynn Las Vegas is 50 stories with about 2,700 rooms.

    Once the developers get the local government's approval -- or entitlements -- for a project site covering things such as land use and building heights, they can use entitlements as a springboard to obtain financing for their project.

    But it takes more than a city's endorsement to bring a project to fruition, especially lately.

    The national economy is in recession, Las Vegas visitation is in a slump, credit markets are tight and one Strip project under construction has already faced foreclosure.

    The site is also the location of the failed Sandhurst project, a proposed high-rise condo building that evaporated in early 2006.

    Michael Mirolla, a former Sandhurst executive, said he thinks the site has potential despite the failed condo plan.

    "It is a very different product. It is a very different time," said Mirolla, who isn't involved in the Grand Central Hotel proposal. "I think that area is a very strong area."

    Adams said a hotel on the site is more likely to succeed than condos, a commodity that lost value in the recent real estate market meltdown.

    "That seems to be the use that continues to sustain itself in this market," he said.

    Contact reporter Benjamin Spillman at bspillman@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861.



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    TimeRanger wrote on April 25, 2008 01:44 AM: Er...Did I miss something....The article fails to mention anything about a gaming floor????


    Noel wrote on April 24, 2008 06:05 PM: If vegas is over-saturated with rooms why is there over a 90% occupancy rate year round and something like 96% on the strip, New York has an occupancy rate something like 75-79%


    Dan Babcock wrote on April 24, 2008 05:05 PM: Great idea..good timing as it is close towards the new area for the Sports arena ...downtown is gentrifying in the right direction..


    The Donald wrote on April 24, 2008 02:43 PM: I don't know SB, try getting a room at Golden Nugget for less than $200 a night. These idiots will try to price the rooms just like the strip, the place will be 3/4 empty, the layoffs will begin, the casino gaming rake will fall, and all hell will break loose. I just don't see 2500 rooms on the railroad tracks (not even part of Fremont St Experience!) being successful. Jerry, that World Market Center is a joke. It's a big wall of nothing. I used to love taking that 95 S curve to the 15 S and seeing the strip unfold. That view is not blocked by that prison looking structure. Sad reality of uncontrolled growth.


    Jerry Wayne wrote on April 24, 2008 01:56 PM: I actually think the World Market Center looks kinda cool.


    SB wrote on April 24, 2008 12:49 PM: This idea is not all that bad. This is actually what downtown needs more investors looking to fund and build projects to help revitalize the area. Of course rooms would be 1/2 those on the strip and thats what would be the attraction. Unfortunately new development is happening to slow and spuratic(or not at all), But this could potentialy be like a jump start and go along with the other already finished projects (World Market Center, Premium Outlet Mall, various finished condo developments etc) Downtown needs fresh new developments and projects to incite a revitalization. A lot, and really more than just 1 or 2 every 4 years. The old rundown hotels and casinos on fremont etc just dont cut it anymore. they are ugly, dingy and not that appealing. For this area to be revitalized it needs a complete overhaul


    mike wrote on April 24, 2008 11:35 AM: LET DOWNTOWN DIE ALREADY
    ITS UNSAFE, DIRTY.


    p wrote on April 24, 2008 11:16 AM: i agree with the both of you --the city is over saturated w/rooms.. if what is down town, why cn't it be fixed up, unless to far gone?? WE ALSO NEED LOCAL FOLKS --NOT OUT OF THE USA


    CAS127 wrote on April 24, 2008 10:54 AM: "projects in Elko, Pahrump, Mesquite and Vernal, Utah"

    Yep - international players like Crown and El Ad are hitting the credit crunch wall but these Elko-tested builders are going to make a go of it...

    Doesn't the RJ have editors anymore?


    The Donald wrote on April 24, 2008 09:42 AM: No way a big hotel like that would make it downtown unless the rooms were 1/2 of those on the strip! 61 stories? Give me a break. That horrible furniture building already has ruined what skyline there is left in that area, now a 61 story hotel? The city planners are obviously a bunch of rejects.