Downtown Vegas has been in a slump for awhile now. Excluding the Fremont Street Experience and the one block of bars that is Fremont East, the downtown area seems pretty run down, especially after 6p.m. It seems like the courthouses, law offices and restaurants that close around 6 p.m. are the only businesses left. Given that the only people coming downtown besides the tourists are lawyers and legal support staff, it always seemed odd that Vegas planned to rebuild downtown through high rise condominium/mixed-use developments. Maybe that made sense in better financial times.
Well, the Las Vegas Business Press reported this week that Juhl, the city-backed mid-rise condominium/mixed use development, is now open. According to the LV Business Press article, "The complex consists of six interlocking buildings with 341 condominiums in 120 floor plans. Only 21 homes, or 6 percent of the project, have closed escrow so far, Juhl Sales Manager John Eisle said."
Since the members of the legal community are the only repeat visitors to downtown on a daily basis, it's likely that attorneys are the potential target market for these condos. So what do you think counsel? Is it time to move downtown? Has the traffic gotten bad enough to move near your office? Or is Juhl destined to fail?
The Juhl is a CD attorney's wet dream... I don't do CD work but absent replacing the slabs or boring through the crooked slabs to do post-tensioning, how would repairs actually fix this problem of slabs sagging/deflecting between support posts?
ReplyDeleteThere's no way I'd buy one there no matter what repairs they did unless it was a re-engineered replacement.
I can see the benefit of reducing my commute from a whole 15 miles down to a half mile, but would prefer it be from the Turnberry instead of downtown.
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From that article:
"There was no post-tensioning or reinforcing steel to support the concrete," said the source. "The floor slabs deflected two to three inches between the columns. It was so bad that the glass didn't fit, the interior walls were cracking, and water lines were breaking."
But repairs have reportedly since been made.
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I would suggest that to truly attract more law firms downtown, there would have to be some degree of housing stock in these high rise projects that have larger units than is normally seen in such buildings, such as units with 4-5 bedrooms. Otherwise it will be difficult to get older attorneys and those with children, both of whom are used to a greater amount of floor space, to consider it a viable place to live. San Diego and Atlanta have probably had the most successful downtown revitalization projects in the U.S. and I was under the impression that the construction of larger residential units of this sort in a high rise context was one contributing factor. It might be useful for city housing authorities to research this matter further.
ReplyDeleteI think that the only true path to revitalization downtown is to give up on the gaming-centric tourism market there and remake it as a business/technology/retail hub.
ReplyDeleteLooked at a few of these places. Would really love living in one and being close to work. The fact of the matter is that they're just too darned expensive. More $ / sq ft not including the rediculous HOA fee.
ReplyDelete@ Anonymous 1:02PM - I've been saying that for years. Nobody listens ... (cue crickets chirping)
ReplyDelete@ Anonymous 1:11PM - "rediculous" A former GA Board denizen, I presume?
No, just can't justify 1.5 - 2X / sq ft + $600 in HOA fees to live downtown.
ReplyDeleteAnd I am quite enamored with the thought of living in a downtown high rise. Just not at those prices.
-1:11
p.s., sorry: ridiculous
Juhl will likely fill the bottom with law offices, not quaint shops and lux boutiques like their website shows. If I owned it, I'd convert 1/4 of the whole thing into individual attorney suites for solos and small practices.
ReplyDeleteIt would seem fun to have a studio for pretrial grind, hangout pad, etc. since my office is by the court... but I still can't imagine anyone actually wanting to LIVE here downtown by the courthouses. Esp since the vagrant ratio is like 2-5 per square block.