Neo Main Street
Las Vegas Town Square Takes Shape

A $400 million urban retail complex featuring shopping, entertainment, restaurants and office space is taking shape at the northeast corner of Las Vegas Boulevard South and Interstate 215.

 

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Marnell Corrao Associates of Las Vegas is the design-build contractor on the 1.5-million-sq.-ft., mixed-use project called Town Square. The complex will feature a 270-room boutique hotel with contemporary décor; 150 retail shops; 12 restaurants; and an 89,000-sq.-ft., 20-screen movie theater operated by Rave Motion Pictures of Dallas.
The 117-acre project is a joint-venture development between Las Vegas-based Centra LLC and Turnberry Associates of Aventura, Fla. Centra spent $70 million assembling land for the project, which includes the now demolished 25-acre Vacation Village.

Southern Nevada Paving is the earthwork contractor, and TAB Constructors is the underground utility contractor. Both firms are based in North Las Vegas.

Development Design Group of Baltimore is the design architect, with Las Vegas-based Marnell Architecture as architect-of-record.

The development also will feature 210,000 sq. ft. of loft-style offices with spaces ranging from 5,000 to 40,000 sq. ft. Colliers International's Tom and Lizz Stilley are the office leasing agents, with Turnberry handling the retail/entertainment tenants.

"We're trying to replicate a town square setting where people can meet, stroll and shop as well as eat, work or catch a movie," said Drew Barkett, Turnberry's executive vice president of retail development and real estate.

The project's restaurants include the Yardhouse, Salt Creek Grill and Claim Jumper. The dining venues will mostly occupy inline space with a few stand-alone pads.

Town Square will additionally have such well-known retailers as Victoria's Secret, Chico's, Lucky Brand, Limited Too, Cache and Tommy Bahama. The retail space ranges from 300-sq.-ft. kiosks up to 92,000-sq.-ft. anchors.

Other lifestyle components include a 50,000-sq.-ft. fitness center, 92,000-sq.-ft. home furnishings outlet, national-chain bookstore and gourmet grocery. The project also includes the adjacent 175,000-sq.-ft. Fry's Electronics megastore.

Town Square will be accessed by a main thoroughfare from Las Vegas Boulevard with interconnecting side streets. The site offers 4,000 surface parking spaces and two major cast-in-place concrete parking structures flanking the north and south sides of the development. The garages offer a combined 1,700 spaces.

Valet service and motorized trolleys will be offered.

"Town Square will be a collage of architectural styles, combining old town Main Street with contemporary cutting-edge design for something that is ubiquitous, eye-grabbing and authentic," said James Stuart, principal of Centra.

The development fuses old and new, combining the historic with the modern to create an urban metropolitan feel.

There will be wide, lamp-lighted sidewalks and narrow paver-stone streets connecting buildings of varying elevations and appearances. The lower levels will have awnings, canopies and shade devices as well as broad glass storefronts for window shopping.

The steel-framed buildings, which range from 30 to 80 ft. tall, will be set atop concrete spread footings. There will be a variety of exterior surfaces such as stucco, stone and brick with metal accents, iron trellises and copper patina roofing.

Distinctive architectural features range from turrets and balconies to towers and rounded corners.

"It's such a unique facility with a lot of facade surfaces," said Michael Miller, Marnell's executive vice president of construction. "It's almost like replicating a Disneyland."

Although subcontractor bid packages are still being prepared, the project is expected to see up to 500 tradesmen onsite during the height of construction activity. Site work started in September, and the project is expected to reach completion by early 2007.

Marnell will self-perform the major concrete work.

"Baby boomers with disposable income are the driving force behind denser urban lifestyle developments like Town Square, which offer the convenience of several different venues in one area," said John Restrepo, principal of Restrepo Consulting Group LLC, a Las Vegas real estate analyst. "It's also a more efficient land use that minimizes waste and sprawl, while conserving natural resources and open spaces."

Key Players
Developer: Centra LLC; Turnberry Associates
General Contractor: Marnell Corrao Associates
Architect: Marnell Architecture; Development Design Group
Engineers: MA Engineering; Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc.; Harris Consulting Engineers
Subcontractors: Southern Nevada Paving; TAB Constructors

 
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