Tuesday, November 25, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Mall hires consultant as tenants wail

Nepotism charge leveled against Neonopolis officials

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman hailed the hiring of an international retail consultant to help turn around the Neonopolis mall. Photo by John Gurzinski. JSS Advisors, Neonopolis' third-party manager, is headed by Joyce Steves Storm, and her sister, Chardell Steves. One tenant charged JSS with nepotism based on frustration with the company. Photo by John Gurzinski.

The owner of the Neonopolis shopping center has hired a leading international retail consultant to help turn around the struggling downtown mall. But even that move may not be enough to appease some tenants who have accused the center's operators of poor management, including one suggestion of nepotism between two key executives.

Neonopolis' management teams involve several parties, mostly East Coast based. The current complaints center around JSS Advisors, a New York-based real estate advisory firm headed by Joyce Steves Storm, and Storm's sister, Chardell Steves.

Storm's company acts as Neonopolis' third-party manager. In mid-August, it named Steves as the center's on-site manager after former general manager Frank Wheat resigned. The two women also shared ownership in Zinc, a now-defunct Neonopolis tenant co-owned by a third Steves sister, Bonnie.

Such ties don't sit well with one Neonopolis tenant who claims it can't get a fair shake when dealing with members of the family/management team.

"Isn't there a word for this kind of thing? It starts with an N," said the tenant, who asked not to be identified to guard against a potential reprisal from the sisters. "This is nepotism, and it's a big part of the problems at this center."

However, Storm said Monday there is nothing improper about her business relationship with her sister, adding family relations often work together in today's business realm. Chardell Steves is well-respected and has strong business ties gained during her 15 years in the industry, she added.

"I hate for that (the sisters' relationship) to be the issue here," Storm said. "This (center) is a work in progress, and the real issue is how do we get people from the suburbs to feel comfortable downtown? But everybody is pulling together to try to make this center successful."

Parsippany, N.J.-based Prudential Real Estate Investors owns World Entertainment Centers, a Newark, N.J.-based affiliate that in turn owns the nearly $100 million Neonopolis project. Prudential's asset management team oversees the center's relationship with JSS Advisors.

Despite the center's disappointing performance and questions surrounding the Steves-Storm relationship, the company is not seeking to back out of its open-ended management contract with JSS Advisors, Theresa Miller, spokeswoman for Prudential Real Estate Investors, said Monday. Representatives from two other shops recently said they had no problems with Chardell Steves or JSS. Several others declined comment.

The city of Las Vegas also holds a financial interest in the center after it paid approximately $32 million to build Neonopolis' underground parking garage. Mayor Oscar Goodman, who has been both supportive and critical of Neonopolis, also recently said he's not concerned by the Storm-Steves ties.

Instead, Goodman said he's encouraged by Prudential's hiring of Cincinnati-based retailing consultant Marketing Developments, which has been tasked with helping turn around the center.

"I've got no concerns; just frustration with the fact that (Neonopolis) wasn't immediately successful," Goodman said. "But I think Prudential realizes they have a substantial investment, the city knows we have a substantial investment, and I think now with the hiring of these consultants we'll be able to resolve some of those issues."

Neonopolis now has two major anchors, a pair of offices and about 20 small-store vendors. However, empty storefronts seem to outnumber actual businesses, many of which keep irregular hours because of slow customer traffic.

Miller said it's too soon to discuss what changes Marketing Developments may recommend for the center.

"This is not a one week or two (process); perhaps it could take months," she said. "They need to figure out how to give the mall a shot in the arm and make it a viable operation, but for now they're not looking to provide a lot of details."

In early October, Marketing Developments employees toured the mall. That move produced "comical" cover-up efforts by the local management team, said a Neonopolis store manager, who also requested anonymity.

"We get almost no foot traffic on the second floor and they had people up here buffing the floors on Monday morning" the week Marketing Developments' advisers arrived, the manager said. "It's all a show."

The source added Neonopolis suffers from "absentee management" and will soon lose his business because of poor foot traffic.

"People are taking risks to open a business, and I would feel better if someone within the complex was doing something to level the playing field," the manager said. "This is people's livelihood and I don't seen anyone around here who's doing anything other than at times like" when outsiders are around.

Said Storm: "We're trying to figure out what's the next best way to look at this project. ... (Marketing Developments) looked at demographics and the changes that are taking place downtown and we're all hopeful that they've got some good ideas."