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Aug. 04, 2007
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

DOWNTOWN PROJECT: Lawsuit may delay arena plans

Union says developer's control over property in question

By DAVID McGRATH SCHWARTZ
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Would-be downtown developer REI Neon has won the blessing of the Las Vegas City Council, hired many of Southern Nevada's top consultants and says it has spent more than $10 million so far securing land that would be home to a 22,000-seat arena, casinos, hotels and condominiums near downtown.

But does the company control all the 85 acres it says it does?

A lawsuit filed by the Culinary union says no.

The lawsuit claims that REI Neon has not provided evidence that it controls or has agreements to purchase 25 pieces of property in its project area, despite the City Council already granting zone changes and other approvals on the land.

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    • It's a contention REI officials roundly deny.

    "Every one of the parcels, we have under option," said Lee Haney, spokeswoman for Rogich Communication, which is representing REI Neon. "We have eight figures invested. We have it under firm control."

    The Culinary Local 226 would not comment for this report, said Pilar Weiss, the union's political director.

    The District Court lawsuit, which names the city of Las Vegas and REI Neon, seeks to overturn the City Council's zone changes, general plan amendments and other approvals it granted REI Neon on June 20.

    The legal challenge could scuttle REI's plans and at least significantly delay the city's wish to have an arena built in the downtown area.

    A motion to dismiss the lawsuit has been filed by the defendants. The motion is scheduled to be heard in early September, about the same time REI says it will begin closing on the 85 acres.

    The Culinary doesn't own any land inside the proposed project. But the headquarters for the influential union is a half block away, according to the lawsuit, which was filed July 13.

    Its challenge to the project, according to the lawsuit, is meant "to ensure that a project is not speculative but rather is real."

    The lawsuit also says Culinary staff and members regularly use Commerce Street, a road that would be closed by the project.

    The union, REI and the city have been involved in talks this week to settle the lawsuit, according to sources close to the negotiations.

    The sources said that if REI Neon agrees to allow future casinos on the site to unionize through "card checks," a more pro-labor way to unionize properties, the lawsuit would be dropped.

    Mayor Pro Tem Gary Reese, who represents the planned REI Neon project, said Culinary union officials had told him they supported the project before getting up at the June 20 council meeting to express their concerns.

    Even if the lawsuit goes away, the question remains about whether REI changed zoning and got city approval on land it didn't have control over.

    As of Friday, city officials were reviewing documents REI submitted to verify it controlled all the parcels, according to a City Hall official.

    The morning before the City Council considered the project, REI representatives submitted hundreds of pages of "seller estoppel certificates" that showed landowners had agreements to sell their land to REI or TR Las Vegas, the company that assembled much of REI's land.

    The Culinary union's attorney, Richard McCracken, said in a letter to Las Vegas City Attorney Brad Jerbic that union staff had analyzed the agreements and which parcels they represented.

    "This analysis revealed that the seller estoppel certificates do not cover 25 of the parcels within the area covered by the applications," McCracken wrote in his letter, a claim also made in the lawsuit.

    Those 25 pieces of land represent more than 20 percent of the properties in REI's project, according to the lawsuit.

    The land is bordered by Charleston Boulevard to the north, Wyoming Avenue to the south, Main Street to the east and railroad tracks to the west.

    The first phase of the project, which REI and the city are currently negotiating on, would be the arena phase, on the corner of Main and Charleston.



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    cas127 wrote on August 05, 2007 07:46 AM: Hype loving real estate promoters vs. disingenuous, self-serving unions - who to root for?


    Michael Myers wrote on August 05, 2007 03:30 AM: Oh, yeah. The union is so "harmonious" that it's basically THREATENING REI by telling them to either allow the union into their project or they'll continue the lawsuit. Right. Really sanguine relationship, there. Sounds more like extortion to me.


    Filchman wrote on August 04, 2007 06:45 PM: Uh, yeah, management/employee relationship were so sanguine and harmonious before unions came along and ruined everything.


    Bill McKillop wrote on August 04, 2007 01:50 PM: This is why people hate unions. They are trying to force unionization down the throats of the developers, and could care less how many jobs are being delayed or eliminated. Want to bet they might drop the suit in exchange for a nice monetary settlement?


    Rodman wrote on August 04, 2007 12:18 PM: Remember the City Commission's comments,"you will have to trust us on this" when the discussion for choosing the winning arena plan was to be made in private?? Well, looks like once again Oscar and his group have picked another loser. I'm sure this whole mess will be much more of the same crap as the development of the Union Pacific yards that has never yet happened: lots of talk and no action. And, don't you just feel great that the culinary union with over half of its members being illegals are looking after our best intrests? I sure hope all the voters are watching this real close and will remember the results at election time.


    Lee Yarbrough wrote on August 04, 2007 09:11 AM: "The sources said that if REI Neon agrees to allow future casinos on the site to unionize through "card checks," a more pro-labor way to unionize properties, the lawsuit would be dropped."

    Just more proof that the Unions here are nothing more them mobsters. "Do what we want and we won't hurt your business." If others do this they are arrested for running a protection racket.


    M.M wrote on August 04, 2007 08:53 AM: IF OSCAR IS IN FAVOR OF THE NBA COMING TO LAS VEGAS BECAUSE WE WILL HAVE OUR OWN ARENA, THE WHOLE TOWN SHOULD PROTEST AGAINST IT. GOODMAN IS JUST ANOTHER THUG LIKE THE REST OF THE THUGS IN THIS TOWN. HE JUST DOESN'T GET IT WHEN EVERYONE HAD TO GO THRU SUCH A BAD EXPERIENCE WHEN THE NBA ALL STAR GAME WAS HERE. OSCAR IS A SCUM BAG.ANYTHING HE'S INVOLVED W/ DOESN'T JUST SMELL FUNNY ,IT SMELLS LIKE DEAD LOX AND BAGELS.


    J wrote on August 04, 2007 08:30 AM: Unions. Bah. They exist to manufacture adversarial relationships.


    Chris wrote on August 04, 2007 08:23 AM: Guarantee you if this is something Osacar and "the group" supports, something smells anyway.


    GSB wrote on August 04, 2007 07:48 AM: Mayor Pro Tem Gary Reese, who represents the planned REI Neon project

    Is that supposed to read "Reese, who supports" the project? Or is Reese representing REI Neon?


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