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Juhl building adds cocktail lounge; food tenants delayed

Residents in the Juhl building in downtown Las Vegas are only an elevator ride away from a new cocktail lounge that just opened on the ground floor.

Classic Jewel, with its retro Las Vegas feel, debuted Saturday and is part of the Juhl building owner’s attempt at generating traffic and interest through retail, food and beverage on the first level. From the chandeliers to the cocktails, Classic Jewel offers a 1950s theme.

Classic Jewel joins Box Human Landscapers, a body wax boutique, as businesses that have opened at the Juhl.

But two food tenants are working through a delay of 100 days to open, said Uri Vaknin, a partner of DK Las Vegas, the 341-unit building’s owner. The Le Pho Vietnamese restaurant and the Greens and Proteins health food cafe need a little more than three months to finish construction and the permitting process, Vaknin said. The Greens and Proteins would be the third in the valley.

“The city permits are taking longer than expected,” Vaknin said. “Construction has been a bit more complex than we anticipated. The planning of restaurants in mixed-use buildings raises more items to address.”

The residential use above the commercial first floor creates issues such as the cooking exhaust and outdoor seating, Vaknin said.

Another commercial tenant, Audio Video Boutique, which sells audio/video and home theater equipment, has received a certificate of occupancy, but an opening date has not been released yet, Vaknin said.

Also getting ready to open at the Juhl is Tui Lifestyles, a national home decor brand known for its fully decorated, prepackaged room settings. Its Juhl location is its first Western United States location.

“People want the mixed-use lifestyle,” Vaknin said. “It’s all about creating amenities in the building and being a complement for the neighborhood. We’re not rushing to fill it up. The goal is to put the correct retailers in place.”

Vaknin is also negotiating with an independent coffee shop for the ground level.

The building on East Bonneville Avenue, which offers residences from 600 to 2,200 square feet, has 97 percent occupancy. Vaknin said there is a waiting list for people to live at the Juhl.

Contact reporter Alan Snel at asnel@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5273. Follow him on Twitter: @BicycleManSnel

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