Tivoli Village development regrouping but still going strong

If you’re betting that Tivoli Village won’t succeed, then place your bet again, and don’t let recent construction delays deter you. The striking 21st-century commercial replica of the Renaissance period, a bygone era that once thrived in the vicinity of Rome, is moving forward again despite slowdowns attributed to a series of financial setbacks.

Indeed, if there’s any doubt about the future of the unique retail and office center located along Rampart Boulevard just outside Summerlin’s boundaries, then just listen to Tivoli Village President Patrick Done.

“Yes, there has been a slowdown at Tivoli, but construction really never stopped,” he said. “Things have just gotten delayed a little. We’re picking up our pace and moving forward now, and I expect phase two of Tivoli Village to open in late 2015 or early 2016,” as opposed to the original schedule of a year earlier.

Anywhere else, the withdrawal of half of the development’s financing more than 1½ years ago might have marked the end of the line for Tivoli Village. But the tenacious Done doesn’t let such mundane matters upset his plan to move forward with a project that opened in April 2011 with so much promise and fanfare.

In addition to losing a principal investor, some 23 acres across from Tivoli Village, bounded by Rampart Boulevard and Alta Drive, has also been removed from the overall picture. That site had been targeted for an indoor mall called Las Vegas Renaissance, which would have bordered Boca Park. But the property, which was to become phase three of the Tivoli development, “is owned by EHB and is no longer a part of our company,” Done said.

Complicating the ownership picture is its history of letters upon letters, which read like alphabet soup.

There’s the IDB Group, an Israeli conglomerate, which pulled the plug on half of Tivoli’s financing due to major investment losses. That portion of the original financing has yet to find a buyer.

Then there’s EHB Cos. of Las Vegas, IDB’s original partner in the development of both Tivoli Village and One Queensridge Place, a high-end condominium complex with twin 18-story towers located diagonally across from Tivoli. EHB is no longer in the picture.

And now there’s PBC, which, coupled with a segment of IDB, represents the controlling interest, Done explained. PBC is Tivoli’s present developer of record. It is also the real estate development division of IDB Development

Meanwhile, costs have mounted since the original plan was unveiled for three phases of Tivoli Village to be constructed over several years. And the recession, which is blamed for the lost financing, is indeed the culprit. Still, Done said “the project will be financed additionally by third parties,” which he did not identify.

“Our plans for moving ahead are in place,” he said. “There’s been a recent increase in work on buildings 5 and 11, and the outside skin should be following shortly on both buildings. Prior to that, we worked on completing staircases.”

Done spoke optimistically about a target for opening phase two in early 2016, with considerably more retail development. He also spoke of increased activity in generating retail leases and rentals.

“We also expect to piggyback the retail facilities in phase two around a boutique hotel that will have 138 rooms. The hotel will be quite unique,” Done said.

Ultimately, Tivoli will extend as far north as its border with Angel Park Golf Course, a development that is being referred to generally as phase three.

“We can only speculate about phase three at this point, with a possible opening date sometime in 2017,” said Done, “and that’s where the residential units we discussed in the past would come into play.”

One other element entered the picture at Tivoli during the slowdown — the rapid development and overnight success of Downtown Summerlin. But Done is confident Tivoli Village can deal with the competition.

“Downtown Summerlin has been a very good addition for the west side of Las Vegas, for Tivoli and for Summerlin,” he said. “If we at Tivoli merchandise our project properly, I believe we will end up complementing Downtown Summerlin. Frankly, we feel pretty good about the whole thing.”

Herb Jaffe was an op-ed columnist and investigative reporter for most of his 39 years at the Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J. His most recent novel, “Double Play,” is now available. Contact him at hjaffe@cox.net.