Monday, August 08, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Project slowly taking shape

Developer envisions locals-friendly hot spot at 601 Fremont St.

The 601 Fremont St. project that was approved by Las Vegas City Council members in July includes the creation of an entertainment venue in its first phase and condominiums in its second phase. The project is being done by Florida-based SunVest. This rendering is not the final version of the project.

The project Las Vegas officials and Florida investors tout as a linchpin for the redevelopment of downtown Las Vegas has a theme but still lacks a form.

SunVest Chief Executive Louis Birdman, who inked a deal with the city in July to remake 601 Fremont St., hasn't finalized a list of tenants for the property or even decided on the mix of attractions he's looking for. The destination still lacks a name at this point.

Definitely, there will be a nightclub presence, Birdman said. Perhaps a comedy club or a live music venue will be offered as well. Those decisions will be made after the building is renovated and ready for occupancy.

What Birdman is sure of now is what he wants the site to be -- a locals-friendly endeavor designed to appeal to the "in crowd." If the project can achieve that, Birdman said, the tourist trade will follow.

"Very often, people don't want to be thought of as outsiders or tourists," Birdman said. "They want to go where the local in crowd goes. Those are the kind of venues we want to have."

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman characterizes the SunVest project as a key to making downtown the place to be, a goal he's worked toward throughout his years in office.

"This is critical," Goodman said of the SunVest project. "I think it's a great location. ... 601 Fremont takes us to a whole new level."

In July, the Las Vegas City Council approved a lease with Birdman's Hollywood, Fla., development company that gives it permission to turn 601 Fremont St. into an entertainment hot spot. Renovation of the 50,000-square-foot building will begin within 180 days.

The timeworn structure's last incarnation was as the fingerprint building, where Las Vegas police inked the digits and photographed the faces of work card applicants.

The first phase of the plan will turn part of the building into an attractions anchor, with clubs, live music venues and restaurants. A second phase focuses on condominium construction. SunVest will pay $1 a year for the next two years on the lease. In exchange, Birdman and his company committed to paying all building improvement costs. In year three of the five-year lease, the rent will increase to $180,000.

Birdman said that in the very near future, SunVest will begin obtaining the necessary permits to begin construction work. Birdman and his partners want to select uses that will best fit in with the area. Although no decisions have been made about building occupants yet, one thing is certain: no gentlemen's clubs.

"I'm not looking at what it is today," Birdman said of the site and the surrounding downtown. "I'm looking at what it's going to become in the next year and in the years to come."

Asked how he plans to avoid the pitfalls that have troubled redevelopment projects like Neonopolis, Birdman said the path lies in making the correct decisions, from building construction to tenant selection. When he first saw Neonopolis, Birdman said he immediately thought it was built backward.

"The building has its back turned on the community," said Birdman, who is an architect. "It looks unapproachable from the street. And then you have to figure out where to park and where to go."

Goodman is banking on a SunVest success. Unlike Neonopolis, which was subsidized by taxpayers, SunVest is investing millions of dollars of its own money into the 601 Fremont St. project, Goodman said.

"It's going to be a different city in two or three years," Goodman said of the project's potential impact on redevelopment. "I predict, I really do, that when people fly here, get into a cab, and ask the cabby where the action is, they're going to be brought downtown."

Business owners like the Beauty Bar's Paul Devitt, who've already made the move downtown, want to see the city focus on mixed uses that will keep crowds coming to the area around the clock.

"I don't think it's going to work if you just have bars and night clubs," Devitt said. "You need restaurants and coffee shops and vintage stores."

The Beauty Bar, at 517 Fremont St., is a saloon modeled after a 1960s era hair salon. Its success is trumpeted often by Goodman. But at the moment, Devitt said that his establishment is a destination. People come to the Beauty Bar, and when they leave, they leave the area. They need a reason to linger, Devitt said.

"What's going to make the downtown interesting and viable is a mix of businesses," Devitt said.

Devitt and other business developers gambling on the successful metamorphosis of downtown Las Vegas say the potential exists for the area to blossom. Birdman said that the area could catch fire with locals and tourists in the same way Miami's South Beach enamored the public.

Devitt envisions a downtown revitalization that would mirror the rebirth of San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter. A self-confessed fan of old Las Vegas, Devitt advocates striving for a variety of old and new, with a combination of daytime and nighttime activities that make the area a 24-hour attraction.

"The old is fine as long as it's not one of 12 cheesy gift shops," Devitt said. "How many of those do you need? Personally, I'd love to see some of these old casinos renovated, or should I say 'retrovated.' You don't need to tear everything down."