Lawmakers hear proposal for new UNLV hotel administration building

UNLV officials on Tuesday were optimistic about a long-delayed project to build a new home for the William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration after it was heard by a joint committee in Carson City without questions or concerns.

Officials are asking lawmakers to reallocate more than $2 million in planning funds that they hope to use for the design of the building. In 2009, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas received $3.2 million that it had to match with private money to do initial planning for the building. Officials spent only about $400,000.

Since then, the campus location of the project has changed, requiring lawmakers to reauthorize the funds that had been allocated to the university, officials said. If the project’s location hadn’t changed, university officials would still have access to the money without legislative action, said Don Snyder, dean of the College of Hotel Administration.

The project, along with other state capital developments, was heard Tuesday by the Assembly Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Finance.

Gerry Bomotti, senior vice president for finance and business at UNLV, said there were no questions or concerns with the project.

“People understood the project because it had been around for a few sessions,” he said, adding that the university also is not asking for incremental money, just a reallocation of funds.

Bomotti said the joint committee still needs to hear more projects from other state departments. Eventually, it will come up with a recommended list of projects, and that list will make its way through the legislative process.

There is no guarantee until the list comes out, but Bomotti said officials feel positive about the project. He said Gov. Brian Sandoval highlighted the project during his State of the State Address in January.

“We are very optimistic at this point,” Bomotti said.

Snyder considers the process to be on track.

If the university receives the reallocation of funds, officials hope to seek construction funding during the 2015 or 2017 sessions.

Contact Yesenia Amaro at yamaro@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0440.