Down to Business – April 2015

4/07/15
The city of Las Vegas is currently coordinating several major initiatives to create a strategic vision for the City’s future. Collectively, these projects make up what is called City by Design. Citizens will soon be able to access a new website, lvcitybydesign.vegas, to get current information on these large, multi-year plans and projects happening in Las Vegas.
The main emphasis of City by Design includes:
- Citywide Strategic Plan
- Downtown Master Plan
- Las Vegas Medical District Master Plan
- Cashman Center Redevelopment
- Strong Cities Strong Communities (SC2) Competition
Citywide Strategic Plan
The Las Vegas City Council held two strategic planning workshops in 2014 to establish new priorities for the city to focus on, those priorities include:
- Economic Diversification
- Public Safety-Homelessness
- Transportation-Mobility
- Education
Advisory committees were formed around each of the four priorities to further develop strategies for each. The recommendations from each of the four committees will result in an implementation plan that will be presented to the Las Vegas City Council for approval during the last quarter (calendar) of 2015. Progress on each of these plans will be updated and maintained on the City by Design website as they are carried out.
Downtown Master Plan
The city of Las Vegas is in the early stages of a 15-month process to update the current Downtown Master Plan. This is a comprehensive master-planning process examining what the future of downtown Las Vegas could be. Outreach is a critical piece of this planning effort, therefore, the plan will include recommendations from the community and downtown stakeholders. The project, which will help guide future downtown development, includes an emphasis on these major areas:
- A significant transportation study that looks at the connection between land use and mobility needs (working with the Regional Transportation Commission).
- A strong economic analysis.
- A study to create the framework for forming a Business Improvement District (BID) for all or part(s) of the planning area (working with the Downtown Las Vegas Alliance).
In late 2014, the city of Las Vegas engaged RTKL, a leading worldwide architecture and planning firm that has successfully delivered award-winning master plans for cities and towns across the country. For this high-profile project, RTKL has assembled a team of national and local experts to develop a master plan for downtown Las Vegas that will sustainably accommodate current and future growth, as well as promote continued prosperity for the city and region.
Las Vegas Medical District Master Plan
In 2013 the city convened an advisory council of stakeholders within the Las Vegas Medical District (LVMD) for the purposes of developing plans and strategies for the expansion of the medical district. The initiative addresses increasing the quality of healthcare for city residents as well as creating substantial economic diversification and large numbers of high paying healthcare industry jobs. One of the early action plan efforts of the Las Vegas Medical District Advisory Council is to complete a master facilities plan for the Medical District that would emphasize as a priority the location of the UNLV School of Medicine, and expansion of major existing institutions such as UMC and Valley Regional Medical Center. Campus beautification and other key physical issues will also be addressed in the plan.
Cashman Center Redevelopment
The city has been working with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) since 2005 under a Memorandum of Understanding for the purpose of seeking proposals for the redevelopment of the 50-acre Cashman Center.
SC2 Competition
Las Vegas was one of three cities that received a $1 million grant from the Economic Development Administration (EDA) to conduct a competition to find the best ideas to improve economic development in one of the following four focus areas:
- Cashman Center
- The Las Vegas Medical District
- Business Park Development
- Projects within the Las Vegas Redevelopment Area
More than 206 individuals registered to compete. A total of eight teams were formed and submitted proposals in phase one of the competition. An Evaluation Committee reviewed and scored the proposals and the top three teams were awarded a total of $100,000 in cash prizes. Ten teams advanced to phase two, and were instructed to further develop their proposals into comprehensive economic development plans. Those plans will be judged by a selection panel made up of community leaders. In June 2015, the competition concludes when the selection panel recommends 1st through 6th place winners for prizes totaling $800,000.
Photo: Las Vegas City Hall by Ryan Reason