Building might gain new life

Las Vegas might have finally found an occupant for a vacant, city-owned building smack in the middle of a downtown district that supporters are trying to transform into a nightlife and entertainment mecca.

On Wednesday, the Las Vegas City Council will consider leasing 601 Fremont Street to a company called 601 Fremont LLC, which plans to remake the building into a nightspot with retail stores and condominiums on the upper floors.

The limited liability corporation is a partnership between Terry Caudill, who owns the Four Queens and Binion's casinos on Fremont Street, and Carlos Adley and Ava Berman Adley of RMD Designs. They own The Velvet Margarita, a nightclub in the Hollywood Entertainment District.

RMD stands for "retro modern development," Carlos Adley said. With the Fremont East District, he sees something similar to what has been done in Hollywood: a rundown but centrally located area that can be turned into a viable, successful neighborhood.

People "want to come downtown and get the old Las Vegas feel, the personal aspect that has been lost at the megaresorts," he said. "We're coming out of the recession. People are going to want to spend their money. But they want value."

If the proposal is approved, the company will lease the 48,700-square-foot building and adjoining parking lot for $233,000 a year, with a 30-year term. In year six of the lease, the rent would start increasing by 1 percent per year.

The first floor will be a nightclub, Adley said. There will be retail stores on the second floor and condominiums on the third. The brick building, now windowless, will be remodeled to make it more inviting.

Phase two of the project calls for a hotel where the parking lot is now.

Adley and his partners will have 90 days to submit a plan to the city describing how they're going to use the building, and he said more details will be available then. Once that period is up, it will take 10 to 15 months to open the nightclub, which will be the first component, he said.

The project is expected to be a $10 million investment, according to city documents, and will add $9 million worth of property to the tax rolls.

The company has financial backing from Michael Egan of DHI Investments, Adley said.

The support and experience of the principals give city officials hope that the building will be occupied soon.

"The group that we're dealing with is strong financially and operations-wise," said Bill Arent, director of the city's office of business development. "After looking at their financials and their operational capacity, it seemed to be a good fit."

At one point the building was the place to go for work card applicants who needed to be fingerprinted.

Las Vegas took over the property from Clark County in 2003, and there have been various plans for it over the years -- mostly nightclubs, but some proposals were more ambitious.

The Tamares Group, owner of three downtown casinos, planned an art museum for the building. The site was approved for two 35-story, mixed-use condominium towers in 2006, and those approvals still stand.

The Fremont East District encompasses an area bounded by Las Vegas Boulevard, Ogden Avenue, Eighth Street and Carson Street, and a single block of Third Street between Ogden and Stewart.

Contact reporter Alan Choate at achoate@reviewjournal.com or 702-229-6435.