There is an article in the Sun today on the financial problems facing the luxury resort community at Lake Las Vegas. The problems are considerable. Lake Las Vegas is bankrupt. Meanwhile, the casino and one of the luxury hotels at the development are closing. And, the author writes how business is so poor the workers at the pedestrian mall are on their cells because there are so few customers. And, then the article concludes:
“But for all the effects of the Great Recession at Lake Las Vegas, there is this optimism: The Nevada Transportation Department has begun a $13 million widening project on Lake Mead Parkway to accommodate anticipated increases in traffic to the development.”
I wonder if this was meant with irony?
With the casino and hotel closing, for the foreseeable future, there should be less traffic and not more, certainly not enough more to widen the road when Nevada has a huge budget deficit. Maybe the problem is not the recession but that people don’t pick a casino and hotel in Las Vegas when they are thinking of a vacation at a lake in large numbers and they never will? Time will tell. But will some reader enlighten me as to why this is not totally wasting tax payer dollars in 2010?
I think it’s more a case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing. Two separate entities operating under conflicting marching orders.
And, of course, as you point out, it costs us money in the end.
The construction on Lake Mead parkway was provided with “use it or lose it” federal funding.
Lake Las Vegas is emerging from bankruptcy in April 2010. The plan looks good for the viability of the community. The Loews occupancy is ahead of last year and there are an additional 10k homes that will be built in the future as well as another subdivision to be built across Lake Mead Parkway from Lake Las Vegas. Don’t forget Lake Mead National Park entrance is just a mile or two past LLV.
Deutsche Bank, who owns the building the Ritz and the casino are in pulled the plug on the funding. Deutsche Bank did the same thing on Fountainblue and Cosmopolitan on the strip. They sold the Fountainblue for $150 million. The loan was 2 billion. DB is a bank. They don’t want to own hotels. Someone will buy up the former Ritz building for pennies and at that price will be able to charge a competitive rate.
With that said, if the Fed goverment provided free money to widen the road to Lake Mead and the anticpated growth over the next 10 years out that way, it’s better to build it now than wishing you would have done it later.
BTW… as part of the widening project, bike trails will be added as well connecting several bike trails together as well as adding landscape to a very ugly road.