It could be pretty amazing -- if it happens.
The World Jewelry Center is being planned by a California developer called Probity International Corp. as part of the city's development of its 61-acre Union Park site, vacant land just west of downtown, across from the $2 billion World Market furniture center.
The $500 million WJC would occupy 5.4 acres, be 57 stories tall, and have a million square feet of commercial space designed to bring together jewelry manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, and consumers.
Roughly 800,000 square feet would be devoted to exhibition and meeting areas, gem-grading laboratories, classrooms, a jewelry and gem museum, a café, and a private club. A 125,000-square-foot retail center, consisting of up to 50 stores, would be open to the public. Up to 25 residential condos would occupy the top floors.
Las Vegas is already a popular destination for the jewelry industry, as it hosts the JCK Show, the world's largest gem and jewelry exhibition, in early June every year.
The World Jewelry Center would be the first of its kind in the U.S., competing with established jewelry centers, such as New York City’s 47th Street Diamond and Jewelry Center, L.A.'s Hill Street Diamond District, and Miami's Seybold Jewelry Building.
The Las Vegas City Council voted unanimously to enter into an exclusive negotiating agreement with a Probity International Corp. affiliate to sell them the land; it also negotiated a below-market land price of $40 per square foot, $8 per square foot lower than the appraised value. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2007 and take three to three-and-a-half years.
