A hotel-casino, which has been in planning for over five years, will be delayed further, due to a rejected federal land bid in the city of Henderson. Last month, the city was asked by two companies to put a 9-acre site owned by the federal Bureau of Land Management up for sale during a fall 2015 auction.
While their lawyer John Marchiano implored city staff with a December letter to put the land up for auction, it wasn’t enough to sway city officials. The city’s Property Management Committee, which is made of up of the city manager and five other senior officials, rejected the notion. The main reasons for the rejection were due to the proposal not meeting the deadline, and for a lack of detail.
City spokesman Bud Cranor said, “That’s a real important piece of property for the city.” He went on say, “It’s kind of the gateway to the city, so they didn’t want to rush into anything. That doesn’t mean it can’t come back before us in the future.” Needless to say, Henderson is taking this matter quite seriously.
Kapelfre LLC and CKB Management Affiliates LLC were the two companies who requested the sale. Developer Raymond Shapiro, who runs CKB, has had plans for over five years to build a casino on the land, who was reported to own 16 acres bordering the 9-acre site, according to the Las Vegas Sun.
Cranor has, for some time, wanted to see a “casino corridor” around Interstate 15 Las Vegas Boulevard South and St. Rose Parkway. He feels more resorts in that area could really boost the city’s image as an industry powerhouse.
“I think at some point in the future that would be ripe for development in that way. But this may be not the time,” Debra March, the city councilwoman for the area, recently said. Shapiro hopes “the future” is the next auction, which may be in 2016. Cranor and other city officials stress the importance of a more detailed proposal before they decide whether or not it’s appropriate.
