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In business downtown Developer planning to build boutique hotel By Joe Schoenmann staff writer Plans for a high-rise hotel downtown without a casino — and located far beyond the large swaths of land purchased by Tony Hsieh's Downtown Project — will be considered by a city commission next week. With 288 rooms, the hotel's size pales in comparison to the Strip's hotels. Developer G.C. Garcia Inc. calls the enterprise Tower 228 Boutique Hotel. Boutique hotels in other parts of the country with smaller-sized hotels are defined as having fewer than 100 rooms. That said, plans for Tower 228 include amenities such as restaurants, bars, a fitness center, conference space and a rooftop pool. It would be built on two parcels, 222 and 228 4th St., totaling 0.40 acres. The parcels are just north of the Bank of America building at Bridger Avenue and 4th, one of the few high-rises downtown dedicated to office space. Plans say the main entry would face 4th Street, with a small cafe to the side. With a three-level parking garage, the building would be 23 stories — 280 feet tall and encompassing 402,500 square feet. The plans say the hotel would increase traffic downtown by about 2,300 trips per day. Traffic on 4th Street, currently at 30 percent capacity, would jump to 38  percent; Bridger would go from 42 percent to 56 percent, and Las Vegas Boulevard from 54 percent to 61 percent. building up: An artist's rendering depicts the planned Tower 228 boutique hotel downtown. Courtesy Image With influx of residents, can a downtown theater thrive? By Joe Schoenmann staff writer Here is more evidence that downtown's redevelopment has taken off: Ideas once merely discussed are moving toward reality. One of those is an eight-screen movie theater, tentatively called Eclipse Theater, that would include bar service and a restaurant. Plans will go before the city Planning Commission next week, when the developer will seek a specialuse permit for the property. Sharet Holdings II LLC is the developer of the 53,855-square-foot project on 0.80 acre on the southwest corner of Gass Avenue and 3rd Street, on the same block as Newport Lofts, a downtown high-rise. According to plans by KME Architects, the theater would have "food and alcohol service to select screening rooms." It would also include a secondfloor restaurant with outside seating and a parking garage with 48 spaces (three handicapped). The property is undeveloped with big patches of dead Bermuda grass and desert rock. During the misbegotten Las Vegas boom of the mid-2000s, when high-rise development ideas were as numerous as bail bond shops, a different | 20 JANUARY 2014 20140120_VI13_F.indd 13 | Courtesy Image reel plans: An artist's rendering depicts the proposed Eclipse Theater planned for downtown. developer wanted to put a 760-foot-high, 65-story mixed-use building at the site with 425 living units. That plan went nowhere. Sharet Holdings II LLC, whose manager is listed as Sharet Davidyan, pur- chased the property for $810,000 in 2011. He could not be reached for comment. Documents filed for a special-use permit say plans include eight movie screens on the second floor, with seat- ing for 540 people. The third floor would be reserved for offices and a VIP lounge. Also included would be a commercial kitchen and tavern-limited establishment. The grayish color-scheme of the building, documents say, is part of an effort to mimic the color scheme of nearby City Hall. As plans for the theater move forward, the question on everyone's mind will be: Can it survive? More people have moved downtown into the few high-rises and surrounding neighborhoods since the early 2000s, so customer support for a theater might be higher this time around. More than 10 years ago, Neonopolis, at Fremont Street and Las Vegas Boulevard, opened with a third-floor multiplex. Not long after opening, the theater fell on hard times. Moviegoers could see first-run blockbusters in a virtually empty theater. The theater was leased last year by Krave, which yanked out the seats to make room for what was billed as the world's largest gay nightclub. That idea fizzled after the club opened briefly then was closed by the state due to unspecified tax issues. 13 1/16/14 1:46:34 PM

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