Council picks grocery chain

The city moved forward Wednesday with a proposal to bring a Food 4 Less into West Las Vegas, picking the supermarket chain over an independent, local market.

Even with the unanimous approval, a grocery store in the community is far from a sure thing.

Laurich Properties, the developer, has 120 days to negotiate the deal.

Hank Gordon, founder of the company, made it clear that Food 4 Less still has to complete economic studies to make sure the site is feasible.

But with Gordon at the Las Vegas City Council meeting was Mamie Yee, the company's manager of real estate.

"There's very strong interest in the site," she said.

The city sent out a request for proposals asking for a minimum of 100,000 square feet of retail space, with at least a 40,000-square-foot grocery store.

The city is offering $5 million in incentives.

The West Las Vegas community, generally bordered by Carey Avenue on the north, Bonanza Road on the south, Interstate 15 on the east and Rancho Drive on the west, has been without a grocery store for three years since Von's moved out. That site, at Edmond Town Center on Owens Avenue, is still tied up in the lease.

A competing proposal called for Mario's Westside Market, on the other side of the street, to open a larger store. But there was concern that the prices wouldn't be as low, and it could have trouble remaining open.

"We feel they (Laurich Properties) brought more to the table," Councilman Ricki Barlow said. "We have an A-1 developer with an 'A' supermarket in hand."

Laurich Properties is the largest local shopping center developer in Nevada, Gordon said. His son Richard is president of the company.

The city conducted two neighborhood meetings about the proposals.