Tivoli and Queensridge developer targets downtown Las Vegas

LV Land Company, a subsidiary of EHB companies, is seeking an exclusive negotiating agreement on two parcels near Fourth Street, Las Vegas Boulevard and Clark Avenue to develop high-end office and, possibly, residential units.

The City Council, acting as the redevelopment agency, voted 6-0 Wednesday to give LV Land until February 2013 to examine the land, study the marketplace and make an offer to buy the property from the redevelopment agency.

“These are pretty forward-thinking developers, and they clearly have studied the market enough to want to invest in downtown,” said Terry Murphy, a consultant to the potential developers.

The project is described in council documents as a mid- to high-rise professional building with a mix of office and residential space, ground floor retail and underground parking.

It would be on two parcels, one facing Clark and the other along Las Vegas Boulevard. The properties are divided by land controlled by private owners.

“We are going to need some time … working with these landowners,” said Frank Pankratz, president of EHB Companies.

Bill Arent, director of the Economic and Urban Development Department, said the city bought the parcels in 1997 and 2004 for a combined $1.2 million.

During the exclusive negotiating agreement, the developers would get appraisals , although the city could sell the property at a discount, Arent said.

If company officials deem the project isn’t feasible, they aren’t obligated to build and the city would need to find new buyers or leave the parcels vacant.

If LV Land secures the entire corner, it could develop up to 150,000 square feet of space, Murphy said, making the project roughly half the size of the Bank of America building downtown.

Ward 3 Councilman Bob Coffin, who represents the area, said high-end office space would be a welcome change downtown.

In recent months, Coffin has bemoaned the preponderance of tattoo parlors, bail bonds offices and other businesses associated with blighted areas. “I think that low-end kind of uses are inevitable when you have low rents,” Coffin said.

The project would join the renovated Fifth Street School and the under-development Immigration and Customs Enforcement building near the intersection.

“That piece of property makes that corner great,” Coffin said.

Contact reporter Benjamin Spillman at bspillman@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0285.