13-Acre Downtown Vegas Site Acquired for $136M

July 31, 2007
By Tonie Auer, Southwest Correspondent


With plans to develop a major regional transportation terminal, city office buildings and other commercial buildings, Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises Inc. acquired a majority interest in 12.7 acres in downtown Las Vegas for $136 million from real estate developer Livework L.L.C., which will keep a 40 percent interest in the site.

The property consists of five city blocks in the downtown business and city government district, which includes city hall. The site is also located near a large housing area which includes hundreds of new condominiums currently under construction. It is also central to the 12 million-square-foot World Market Center, a mixed-use home and lifestyle design campus that is being expanded to include office space, a convention center and residences.


In January, city officials approved the Las Vegas Downtown Centennial Plan, which focuses on the redevelopment of the downtown area. The plan includes a long-term strategy to re-establish downtown as a more vibrant region. The plan proposed attracting high quality office space, restaurants, parks, plazas, streets lined with trees and arcades, hotels, historic casinos, artist galleries, theaters, shopping, museums, and new residential communities and neighborhoods.

Downtown is already home to Las Vegas City Hall, the Clark County Government Center, regional courts, federal and civic uses, as well as the Chelsea Premium Outlet Mall. The area is already seeing a resurgence of activity with the opening of the Fremont Street Experience in 1995, the Clark County Government Center in 1997, the Lloyd George Federal Courthouse in 2000, the Chelsea Premium Outlet Mall in 2003 and the first major downtown residential project, Bridger Apartments, soon after.

In the summer of 2005 the first of 10 phases of the World Market Furniture Project opened and Soho Lofts, the first of several downtown high-rise condominium projects, broke ground. The city also invested about $83 million on downtown public infrastructure projects between 1995 and 2005.

KeyBank National Association was the lead lender on the transaction.

On July 27, CPN reported that Forest City sold a dozen assisted living properties to Atria Senior Living Group for about $607 million.

On July 30, CPN reported that Forest City, in partnership with Pruitt Associates, broke ground on The Shops at White Oak Village, a 900,000-square-foot retail property just outside of Richmond, Va. The cost to complete the complex is an estimated $161 million.

Located in the eastern portion of Henrico County, The Shops at White Oak will occupy a 136-acre parcel along I-64. While retail will be the highlight, the property will actually have several uses; in addition to a 750,000-square-foot power center and a 150,000-square-foot lifestyle center, The Shops at White Oak will feature a 140-room Hyatt Place hotel.


Forest City Enterprises Inc. is a $9.2 billion NYSE-listed national real estate company. The company is principally engaged in the ownership, development, management and acquisition of commercial and residential real estate and land throughout the United States and has been developing major land projects and retail properties in Las Vegas for more than 20 years.

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