VEGAS GETS REAL

On June 15, 2016, the  Las Vegas City Council voted 7-0, approving resolution number 56 on its agenda, the Downtown Las Vegas 2045 Vision Plan. It represents a major milestone for the City– the culmination of an 18 month process that sets a bold course for policy, budgets, and investment in downtown. The Plan reshapes downtown in fundamental ways, driven by a desire by Las Vegans to create a place of much greater energy and complexity; a city moving beyond gaming and entertainment toward a truly polyglot, civilized and urbane place poised for 21st century growth. The Plan imagines a better, more inclusive downtown for those who live in or visit Downtown. It lays out a strategy for the outlay of City resources, establishes an implementation timeline for much needed improvements, and sets goals to track success for the next 30 years. The Plan imagines millions of square feet of development, creates thousands of jobs, lays out miles of green streets and transit networks, and generates millions of dollars in revenue for the City. It is the most ambitious and important planning document crafted by the City since its inception in 1905.

  Of note are a number of key strategic initiatives:

• From its position as a global center for tourism and entertainment, Las Vegas is realizing its enormous potential for economic diversification, an economy complementary to the gaming industry but not reliant upon it. The plan identifies catalytic industries in centers of excellence in which to invest. it is leveraging new burgeoning industries in hi technology, customer fulfillment, medicine and education as a part of the plan strategy.
• In a fragile desert environment, Las Vegas is looking for ways to steward scarce resources and expand open spaces. linear parks and green spaces, are interconnected along tree lined sidewalks that will lower the ambient temperature, and purify ground water, while creating investible and resilient places for economic growth.
•  Working closely with the Regional transportation Authority to expand the public transit network to link downtown to key regional anchors for economic growth, the team reconfigured more than 50 lineal miles of streets to limit reliance on automobiles,  providing miles of green streets and urban trails.

• In the heart of the entertainment industry, the link between entertainment and education will be strengthened with schools of performance as well as design and art as well as the incubation of creative industries such as design and fine art will aid downtowns economic growth.
• New anchor cultural uses such as a museum of modern art, a major sports team, and a performing arts campus, will provide much needed activities currently lacking in downtown.
• Recognizing the unique history of Las Vegas, the plan  stabilizes neighborhoods and improves affordability. New affordable housing, A business improvement district, design guidelines and a signage and wayfinding campaign are significant elements that will drive success around communities of unique identity.
• The plan creates an investment trust for catalytic projects, funded by seed money from the city and development interests and works toward public private partnerships and key strategic alliances in high tech, education, the arts, and medical industries.

A copy of the plan can be seen here:

https://www.lasvegasnevada.gov/cs/groups/public/documents/document/chjk/mdex/~edisp/prd011906.pdf  

 SETTING THE SCENE

In 2007, Las Vegas was a poster child for developer excess. Perhaps no other city in America had such a surplus of unoccupied housing. A lack of diversification had crippled the city economically for the last 8 years, creating a chilling effect in the development community.  

https://abcnews.go.com/Travel/recession-strikes-las-vegas/story?id=8974152

20 million people visit downtown annually. Beyond the casinos downtown has always been the legal, and banking center for the valley. The relocation of Zappos to the former city hall building was a significant coup in attracting a young, well educated and hip residential community to the area. Emerging niche industries in high tech, medical training and services, fashion, art and design, and food and beverage services are clustering in downtown. With residents come high expectations for an urban quality of life; efficient services, amenities for couples and families; lots of things to do and see.

Downtown has recently emerged as the cultural center for the region, with Symphony Park and 18B Las Vegas Arts District, and well known events such as Life is Beautiful (a 3-day music and food event) and Helldorado (Las Vegas’ own rodeo).

https://lifeisbeautiful.com/?utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term={keyword}&utm_campaign=LIB16-phase1

STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

Downtown began a resurgeance in developer interest around 2011. Three key fundamentals are driving growth:

(1) The funky charm of downtown’s historic building stock and gaming legacy,

(2) Smart communications infrastructure throughout downtown, and

(3) A low tax, business-friendly climate.

Downtown is confronting a series of challenges that cannot be solved by “market forces” alone. These include high land costs, lack of affordability, too little local-serving retail and services, too few parks and open spaces, overabundance of vacant and underutilized land, and an auto oriented mobility pattern. Most trips within downtown are done by car.

EXTENSIVE PUBLIC OUTREACH

Vision 2045 Downtown Las Vegas Masterplan is built upon extensive public engagement. Over a dozen outreach events, 100 stakeholder interviews, 900 shares via social media, 2,400 community outreach participants, and 20,000 website visits provided the planning team with a fundamental understanding of the needs, and aspirations of the community at large. Key major themes include: (1) Promoting Gaming and Tourism in Downtown First, (2)) Providing Housing/Community Amenities, (3) Emphasizing Education, (4) Rebranding and Marketing Downtown, (5) Providing Options around Mobility, (6) Creating Standards for Renewable Energy, (7) Creating More Parks and Green Streets, (8) Expanding Retail and Entertainment offerings, and (9) Better Coordination of Social Services. 

EXPANDED STUDY AREA

At 13.2 square miles, The Planning area is more than four times the size of the previous plan (the Downtown Centennial Plan) area. This was done by design; a result of the community goal to make the plan as inclusive as possible. The plan now includes several key subareas; the Downtown Planning Area and Peripheral downtown areas (roughly 4.3 square miles, combined) and Sphere of Influence areas (roughly 8.9 square miles). Expansion of the Study Area allows the plan to 1) maintain and strengthen historic neighborhoods within Downtown core, 2) provide new amenities and services impossible without scale, 3) identify and connect new developments in the key growth areas adjacent to the traditional downtown, and 4) create sphere of influence with a meaningful impact through street improvements and key gateway development along major corridors.

VISION STATEMENT

To help facilitate discussion, the planning team worked with stakeholders to craft a vision statement that defines what downtown will look and feel like in the future. The Vision Statement provides a structure that supports the planning goals, policies, strategies, and implementation actions in the Plan.

“Downtown Las Vegas- The LEGEND Reinvented” describes a future downtown that will become a network of interconnected, diverse neighborhoods that enjoy the highest quality of life built on the legacy and energy of local culture, green infrastructure, educational opportunity, and a robust and diversified economy. It envisions a downtown that becomes the cultural and economic hub of the region, where the environment is protected for future generations and where all people can better access the abundance of Las Vegas’ unique cultural and social resources. Online polling helped to refine the vision statement and focus discussion about specific goals and policies that detail the vision.

AN INTEGRATED APPROACH

As a part of the planning effort, a Market Study identifies the potential growth for Downtown’s development market. The plan considers the impacts of other planning effort the City is undergoing or has recently adopted (such as the RTC’s Mobility Masterplan, the Hundred Plan for the Historic Westside Community, the Las Vegas Medical District Masterplan, and Project Neon highway improvements.)

Through significant investments in public infrastructure, targeted strategic partnerships, acquisition of key land parcels, and by streamlining approvals, cumulatively these measures will all have a catalytic effect on development, resulting in a “super aggressive growth scenario” for downtown (some 12 million GSF of development are predicted to occur in the planning area alone). It is anticipated that the added density envisioned by this scenario will help build a successful Downtown economy with a diversity of jobs, services, and sustainable economic growth for years to come.

COMMUNITY BENEFITS

The Plan will provide tangible benefits to the Downtown community. These include significant economic and social impacts as well as environmental benefits. When fully implemented, the Plan will:

• Generate over 16,000 permanent jobs, thousands of temporary jobs in construction, and services.
• Provide over 2,500 affordable housing units close to the transit,
• Increase downtown’s population by more than 200%
• Significantly increase learning and cultural facilities, as well as retail and service amenities, including a downtown Grocery Store, daycare facilities, K-12 school, performing arts facility, community center,
• Achieve balanced mode split: 45% car / 25% transit / 20% pedestrian / 10% bike mobility usage,
• Increase green spaces, including a 200% increase in parks and plazas, a 700% increase in bike and pedestrian trails, and a 1600% increase in tree canopy.
• Generate at least 50% of its own power and recycle 75% of its own waste.    

WHY?

Las Vegas is a unique place; a distinctly Western city. Downtown has had some major successes; the expansion of transit and bike infrastructure throughout downtown, the evolution of the Arts District, Symphony Park’s development, the relocation of creative industries to downtown, its sustainability program and unique events - all signs of a real urban renaissance well on its way. These successes underscore the importance of this planning effort as an investment in the future in the following ways:

• The Plan builds upon the unique history of Downtown. From the funky restaurants to the unique neighborhoods, to the tolerance of the community at large, this plan will help to preserve what is great about downtown while adding key elements that promote a better, more inclusive, and more interesting quality of life.
• The Plan is proactive, the result of an intentional planning process that imagines specific successful outcomes of benefit to the greatest number of stakeholders in Downtown.
• The Plan sets smart goals that were established by a diverse and numerous set of concerned and passionate citizens.
• The plan will attract investment, because it offers a predictable outcome for development and financial interests. It targets where investment will go and eliminates uncertainty.
• The Plan improves affordability and quality of life. The expansion of housing offerings and amenities, education, retail and green spaces will improve the experience of downtown for all who come to visit or live.
• The Plan offers clarity to Developers and planners who love expedited approvals for projects that fit into the vision.
• The Plan will make Downtown more resilient; focusing on infrastructure investment that will get people out of their cars, make the streets investable places, and promote high quality buildings that provide much of their own power save water and minimize waste.  

Great downtowns don’t happen by chance.  Promoting a community driven Plan that supports growth over time, with smart goals that gauge success provides the needed direction developers seek to invest and partner. Key stakeholders such as  UNLV, targeted corporations and other institutions will need to be nurtured over time.  Ongoing coordination with key  entities such as  the Regional Transit Authority, Rail Authority and Parks Department will be essential to prioritize investment in an era of scarcity. Congratulations to the key leaders  in the City of Las Vegas in getting this plan approved. It represents a major step in a successful path forward for Downtown.