New indoor shopping facility on track for Summerlin area

You'd think they'd take a breather, but just as Tivoli Village opens, its developers already are eyeing another project, and it's right across the street.

Las Vegas Renaissance, a mixed-used project, sailed through the city of Las Vegas' P lanning C ommission meeting May 10 with unanimous support and is slated to head to the C ity C ouncil for final approval on June 15. Las Vegas Renaissance is planned for the s outheast corner of Alta D rive and Rampart B oulevard.

Las Vegas City Councilman Steve Wolfson said he was excited to see that the builder of Tivoli Village chose to focus on another development in Ward 2.

"From the plans I have seen already, Renaissance will complement the quality and beauty of Tivoli Village across the street," he said. "I am looking forward to seeing even more businesses opening in this commercial corridor. More developments and businesses mean more jobs for our community. We are slowly but surely seeing opportunities to get those unemployment numbers into single digits again."

Inspiration for the project came from the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele and the Piazza del Duomo in Milan, Italy. Built in the 1860s and 1870s, it was one of the first indoor shopping malls in the world and is known for its architecture and elegant high-arched glass ceiling. Plans call for its Las Vegas counterpart to have an atrium feature and cover approximately 773,000 square feet. T hree major anchors, one of which will cover three levels, are planned. The other two will be two-level venues. Approximately 70 in-line stores can be accommodated under its roof.

The shopping center will be enclosed and is planned to have five parking levels, some subterranean.

The name Renaissance was chosen, said Frank Pankratz, president of EHB Companies, in light of the dark ages from which the country is recovering.

"We thought the name was commensurate with the times, i.e., the phenomenal economic tsunami we've experienced," he said. "We see the two developments as part of the resurgence in Las Vegas. They will complement one another."

It will be connected to Tivoli Village, located on the n ortheast side of the Alta D rive and Rampart B oulevard intersection, via a pedestrian bridge.

The 23.4-acre parcel was purchased in the fall of 2010. It's been in the planning stages ever since in response to vendors who expressed a preference for an indoor shopping experience. The project is in the pre-leasing stage, too early to give specifics on which store brands to expect.

Patrick Done, executive vice president, said the timing means it's possible that workers on future phases of Tivoli Village will be able to head to either work site for a cross-use kind of approach.

"There's an efficiency in doing it this way," he said, adding that, unlike Tivoli Village, everything will be built in one phase.

A residential portion of the project will be separate from the shopping concept and will have its own entry .

It is planned between the east side of what had been the Great Indoors and the community that borders Boca Park. Community meetings have been held to get residents' input .

Plans show a single, four-story building with two levels of parking. No decisions on the square footage of units have been made, Pankratz said, as the housing market will dictate some of that.

"It's hard to crystal ball something when it's several years in advance," he said. "But people want the convenience of living, working and playing in close proximity."

He said the building would have between 80 and 100 condominium units.

A groundbreaking is expected in 2013, with an opening date before the holiday season of 2015.

Contact Summerlin and Summerlin South View reporter Jan Hogan at jhogan@viewnews.com or 387-2949.