The 61 vacant acres just west of downtown, between the freeway and the hotels, you refer to are known collectively as Union Park. It's named for the Union Pacific, which owned the property from 1905 till 1995, when the City of Las Vegas acquired it. The city has been helping to market the property, considered the largest downtown urban-development project in the country, ever since. The city stands to earn upwards of $50 million a year in property, sales, and gaming taxes.
The property is bordered by the railroad tracks (still used for Union Pacific freight trains) on the east, Grand Central Parkway on the west, Bonneville Avenue on the south, and Ogden Avenue on the north. (One possibility is for the Fremont Street Experience canopy to be extended two blocks west to meet the Union Park development.) The World Market Center and Outlet Mall are at its western edge, the Clark County Government Center at its southern.
After 10 years, the plans are firming up. Union Park when completed will consist of 9.4 million square feet of residential, office, retail, arts, medical, hotel, and casino space at a total cost of $5 billion to $6 billion.
According to Newland Communities, the major developer, the project "incorporates a pedestrian friendly design based on mixed-use models in urban market-driven areas where a sense of community takes shape around cultural and entertainment centers."
Ground has already been broken on the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute, a research and treatment facility for neurodegenerative diseases. And the Smith Center for the Performing Arts is scheduled to break ground in 2008; it'll host the Nevada Ballet and Las Vegas Philharmonic, among other performance groups and artists. The World Jewelry Center has signed commitment papers to open within the Park (see QoD 12/21/06).
Low- and high-rise residential developments will encompass 3,200 units, with availability starting in mid-2010.
Also planned are three hotels containing a total of 1,750 rooms and a 60,000-square-foot casino.
The build-out is scheduled for five years; Union Park, if all goes according to plan, could be completed in 2012.
