I totally get that a city would donate a building to a clinic or some imaginary non-profit, and I even get that a building with a tenant is better than an empty building. But the way the city of Las Vegas always seems to give to private business by calling that redevelopment sure seems unfair. In fact the way the city of Las Vegas does business always amazes me. Are they still building that new city hall for the sake of hiring people to build it? (This being part of the general plan of building a new downtown.)

A group lead by the influential Terry Caudill, owner of Binion’s and Four Queens, has just leased a building from the city for a nightclub and other such civic uses. The rent deal is pretty sweet. The city is charging a token  $233,000 for the annual lease to the 48,700-square-foot building and that includes an adjoining parking lot. Selling parking spaces downtown all year for that lot alone might be able to take care of a big chunk of the lease payments. But no one is probably worried about rent, because the deal Caudill and his partners got is even better. Like one of those old school television commercials, the sale is in all the perks. For the first six years the city has agreed to charge no rent whatsoever via an abatement! Is there any other landlord that would toss a company six years of no rent?

According to the Review-Journal the plan for the building:

“There will be a restaurant, a nightclub and retail space on the first floor, said Bill Arent, director of the city’s business development office. The other two floors will have retail and condominium space, said Carlos Adley, who is known professionally as Big Daddy Carlos.”

Big Daddy! How perfect. If this plan sounds identical to the contents of many an empty building and/or failed project in Vegas right now, well, that is because minus a casino there is no difference. This totally unimaginative plan just has the right people asking, apparently.

Here is another question: How will, for example, Neonopolis–where the city in theory will get money if the near empty mall fills up and people park over there instead— ever going to get retail, or nightclub tenants if the city is just giving away buildings blocks away?

Oh, one more bonus to the lease: if the economy improves in six years the city will not be able to raise the rent to market value; rather Review-Journal reports the city has agreed to raise the rent no more than 1% a year. Quite the deal, huh?  (Photo: Lanie Crossman)