Casino Connection Nevada

New Years Cheers

Exciting developments in store for 2008

by Oscar Goodman

Hello, and happy New Year! As the world’s happiest mayor, I am so excited to tell all the readers of Casino Connection about the new things that are in store in 2008. There is so much happening in downtown Las Vegas and 2008 promises to bring even more energy into this area.

Fremont East is shaping up to be the up-and-coming entertainment district for residents and tourists alike.

This six-block area along Fremont Street, from Las Vegas Boulevard to Eighth Street, features several new nightclub and dining venues including Beauty Bar, the Griffin, Take 1 Nightclub and the Downtown Cocktail Room. More are in the planning and construction stages. With the excitement nearby at the Fremont Street Experience, this area will be a major attraction to those people looking for a good time.

Just west of Fremont East, across the Union Pacific Railroad tracks, the city’s 61-acre Union Park development is also starting to take shape. The steel beams of what will become the Ruvo Center Keep Memory Alive, Lou Ruvo Brain Institute, are heading skyward. This project, designed by world-renowned architect Frank Gehry, is another key component to the city’s redevelopment efforts.

Also planned for Union Park is the World Jewelry Center. At more than 50 stories and proposed to have more than 900,000 square feet, the World Jewelry Center’s trade tower will be able to accommodate approximately 400 international wholesale jewelry dealers and manufacturers. Adjacent to the tower will sit a 125,000-square-foot shopping promenade offering some 60 retail jewelers. A gem and jewelry museum, open to the public and designed to attract visitors to the complex, will be part of the retail center.

Other features in the works for the World Jewelry Center include state-of-the-art security, whole-ownership condo units, a foreign trade zone, secure shipping and receiving, gem grading labs and education facilities, meeting/exhibition space and more.

Additional planned projects in Union Park include those listed below:
• 1.9 million square feet of Class A office space
• 363,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space
•  3,100 high-rise residential units
• 15,800 parking spaces contained within vertical structures
• New hotel/casino
• 1,750 hotel rooms

With all the excitement taking place downtown, the city is also taking steps to make sure we are meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability to meet the needs of future generations.

To that end, the city is implementing policies, measures, actions and practices that conserve natural resources, protect the environment and maintain the vibrant economy.

The city is focusing on three areas of improvement, including:

1. City business—employing our regulatory authority over land development (land use, zoning codes, building codes, development agreements and land development standards), franchise agreements with utilities and infrastructure development.

2. City operations—obtaining maximum energy and resource efficiency in the city’s day-to-day operations including expanding the City Employee Lowering Energy Cost by Recycling and Tracking Efficiency (CELEBRATE) committee throughout the organization.

3. Community outreach—establishing a committee of interested persons representing various community groups to raise awareness, educate and advocate sustainability throughout the community.

This is an exciting time to be a resident of Las Vegas, and I want to thank all of you for helping make this community even better.