Proposed nightclub won’t open despite renovations, deposit

The sign advertising the imminent opening of Club V on East Fremont Street is still there, but this week it becomes official -- the club ain't coming.

On Wednesday, the Las Vegas City Council is scheduled to terminate an agreement with 601 Fremont LLC that called for the company to open a nightclub in the city-owned building.

It's a "friendly" termination, said Scott Adams, director of business development for the city.

The company has been working since 2005 to open a nightclub there, and has invested about $200,000 in improving the building, he said.

The company entertained several potential tenants "but couldn't nail one down," Adams said.

Now, city documents say, the company is "unable to move forward with its plans due to the negative impact the softening economy has had on the parent company, Sunvest Communities."

Florida-based Sunvest Communities is primarily in the condominium conversion business. Company officials did not respond to a request for comment Monday.

In addition to the $200,000 spent on renovations, the company also forfeits a $480,000 deposit to the city. That money will be set aside for costs associated with the building as the city looks for another taker, Adams said.

"The question there is do we keep the building?" he said. "Do we just go forward and look for someone to renovate it? Do we tear it down and offer the site?

"There are some folks who've already told us that it's not worth the building."

The site consists of about 1.25 acres at the corner of Fremont and Sixth Street. It includes a three-story, 48,000-square-foot building and a large parking lot.

The windowless, brownish-orange block of a building was once called the "fingerprint building" because Las Vegas police used to house fingerprinting operations there.

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