Telemundo may give Neonopolis a Spanish accent

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- The latest savior for Neonopolis could be the Spanish-language television station Telemundo, City Hall officials say.

Under a deal being negotiated, the station would occupy office space on the third floor of the downtown retail complex and possibly have a studio on the first floor.

An affiliated company also would lease office space on the second-floor, if negotiations are successful, and Spanish-themed businesses would fill some of the remaining retail spaces on the first floor.

Michael Matkins, an attorney for Wirrulla Hayward, the structure's owners, confirmed that negotiations are under way to bring a new tenant to Neonopolis but would not identify it .

"We haven't signed anything yet," Matkins said.

Mayor Oscar Goodman also would not confirm the new tenant but said at his weekly news conference that he had met twice with prospective tenants looking to put a studio on the first floor.

The issue came up when Matkins went before the Las Vegas City Council at a recent meeting seeking an extension of a parking validation agreement for Neonopolis.

Wirrulla Hayward owns Neonopolis, but the city owns the land that the building is on and the parking structure under it. The validation agreement allows patrons to park at Neonopolis for free, with Wirrulla Hayward reimbursing the city for part of the parking cost.

When council members expressed reluctance to extend the agreement without some indication that progress was being made to attract new tenants to the 250,000-square-foot, $100-million complex, Matkins revealed that negotiations were under way . Goodman and Councilman Gary Reese acknowledged being aware of the talks.

Noticeably absent from the council meeting was Rohit Joshi, the owner 's representative and complex manager, who went before the council several times in the past year with plans that include ed a casino, a grocery store and a live-performance theater.

None of those prospects, however, have panned out, prompting Goodman to dismiss Joshi's ideas as "gobbledygook" and "more like dreams than plans." Along the way, the council has lost faith in Joshi's ability to deliver a viable business plan for Neonopolis.

If Telemundo moves into Neonopolis, it would represent a clear change of direction for the structure, which has been a tremendous disappointment as an urban retail complex. Telemundo's offices are now by Pecos Road and Stewart Avenue, in southeastern Las Vegas.

By leasing much of Neonopolis as offices, which do not rely on foot traffic or retail sales, its management might finally achieve some level of stability, albeit in a much different way than initially intended.

If Neonopolis adopts a Hispanic theme, the structure also might tap into an underserved market. Hispanics represent about 25 percent of the valley's population.

When it opened in 2002, Neonopolis was envisioned as a retail and restaurant complex that would complement the Fremont Street Experience and spur growth in the surrounding area.

But although the neighborhood around Neonopolis has begun to flourish, with developers eyeing projects that encircle the building and nightclubs in a new entertainment district, Fremont East, on adjacent blocks, the structure itself has foundered.

The building has only two anchor tenants, Galaxy Theatres and a Jillian's restaurant, and one retailer, Del Prado Jewelers. Matkins confirmed that the theater would remain open if a new tenant moved in, but the future of the other businesses is uncertain.

Matkins insists that the new plan will not become another of the many unfulfilled promises that have marked Neonopolis' history.

If he is correct, the city might finally have an unanticipated but, by most counts, acceptable fix at Fremont Square, which is what the owners renamed the venue a few months ago.

And though Neonopolis' new name has never caught on, maybe "Cuadrado de Fremont," the Spanish version, might have better luck.

A version of this story appears in In Business Las Vegas, a sister publication of the Sun.