The City Council agreed Wednesday to extend for 30 days a parking validation subsidy it gives to Neonopolis. Photo by Gary Thompson.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman called the latest plans for Neonopolis "gobbledy-gook" and said serious questions have come up about the current frontman for the building's new owners, he said on Wednesday.

The City Council agreed to extend for 30 days a parking validation subsidy it gives to Neonopolis.

Council members said they don't want to hurt the movie theater that is on the third floor of the outdoor mall.

The latest strategy to bring up the failed project is to bring in three smaller anchor tenants, including a live-performance theater that would seat 500-700 people, a grocery store and pharmacy, said Rohit Joshi, the public face of Wirrulla Hayward LLC, which bought the mall for $25 million last year.

He appeared in front of the City Council Wednesday to request an extension to the parking validation program.

But the wherewithal to complete the plans was clearly a question council members had.

"I got a million questions, because with all due respect, this is gobbledy-gook," Goodman said. "And I'm being nice."

He said that Neonopolis continued to be an albatross dragging down the redevelopment of downtown.

Joshi said, "I've tried a number of ideas to make this work. We have to create our own anchor, because we can't get an anchor there."

Councilwoman Lois Tarkanian said, "I haven't been impressed with the presentation."

She questioned business practices in the past -- there are business-related judgements against Joshi by former Major League Baseball player Darren Daulton and others -- and questioned whether a live theater would work.

"There are live theaters in some casinos, and they're not full," she said.

Michael Matkins, a Los Angeles attorney for Wirrulla Hayward, said Joshi inherited the issues that have made Neonopolis a flop since it opened.

"I would hope a solution is as easy as everybody thinks it is," he told the council.

The city spent about $32 million to assemble the land and build the garage, which it owns.

Since Wirrulla Hayward took over the building at Las Vegas Boulevard and Fremont Street, almost all of its tenants have been kicked out.

Only Jillian's -- a restaurant, bar, arcade and bowling alley -- and the movie theater remain.

Tarkanian said "you seem to be going in the opposite direction."

In June, Prudential Investments sold the facility to Wirrulla Hayward, a limited liability company out of Delaware.

The city did not have any control over who the building was sold to, said City Attorney Brad Jerbic.

But the city added a note on the deed worth $18 million.

If the owners default on payments for maintenance costs and other small expenses, the city could go after that money.

"The city's contracts have us well protected," he said.