New Gehry-Designed Institute in Las Vegas Breaks Ground

The Frank Gehry-designed Lou Ruvo Brain Institute broke ground in downtown Las Vegas. The $70 million project is expected to open in late 2008.

Brain Institute BreaksGround in Downtown Vegas

Frank Gehry broke ground on the new $70-million, 67,000-sq-ft Lou Ruvo Brain Institute in downtown Las Vegas. It marks Gehry's first building in Las Vegas. Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., Baltimore, is the general contractor for the 1.9-acre complex at Bonneville Avenue and Grand Central Parkway.

The five-story building is located on land deeded to the institute by the city of Las Vegas as part of its 61-acre Union Park development. It will feature clinical, research and outpatient exam rooms for brain disease victims.

Additional plans include a 9,000-sq-ft banquet hall, flanked by a Wolfgang Puck cafe and catering kitchen on one side, and an interactive "Museum of the Mind" on the other. The institute plans to rent out its public areas at night and on weekends to help meet its operating expenses.

The building's banquet hall will be covered by a wildly curvy, undulating metal-and-glass trellis reaching up to 75 ft, while the main entrance will be made up of stacked building blocks separated by glass-enclosed spaces. The contrast suggests the dual functions of the brain, simultaneously ordered and chaotic, structured and imaginative.

The project will be funded by the Las Vegas-based nonprofit Keep Memory Alive Foundation for brain disease research, founded by Larry Ruvo, Nevada's senior managing director for Southern Wine and Spirits. The new building is named after Ruvo's father, who died of Alzheimer's. The institute is scheduled to open in late 2008.

VERGE Announces $135 Million Project in Downtown Vegas

Las Vegas-based VERGE Living Corp. unveiled VERGE, a $135 million, mixed-use, mid-rise condominium development positioned for local professionals. Located in downtown Las Vegas on the northeast corner of Main and Bonanza, VERGE is close to two major freeways, giving residents easy access to all areas in the Las Vegas valley.

The downtown urban-style community will consist of 296 residences within more than 300,000 sq ft of residential living. The open space design of Las Vegas-based Dennis Rusk Architecture provides studios, one-, two-, and three-bedroom condos and lofts with 23-ft ceilings, featuring views of downtown Las Vegas and the surrounding mountains. Balconies and private terraces add outdoor living spaces to many homes.

Upscale amenities at VERGE include a more than 10,000-sq-ft fitness center that includes indoor racquetball courts, locker rooms and workout equipment.

A rooftop deck includes pool, spa and a pet park for residents to utilize. The first floor will consist of more than 30,000 sq ft of commercial retail space. Ideal tenants will include a gourmet grocery store, coffee house, a healthy fast food establishment and a mid- to high-end restaurant.

The project is slated to break ground summer of 2007 and is scheduled for completion fall of 2008.

Meadow Valley Awarded New Construction Contracts

Meadow Valley Corporation has been awarded new construction contracts valued at a total of approximately $11.4 million. The awards include a $6.7 million contract by Clark County Department of Aviation to perform improvements on an overflow parking garage for the new rental car facility at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. The company was also awarded $4.2 million in contracts from three private owners involving construction of a bridge for a residential development and other site and street improvements.

In addition, Meadow Valley won its first design-build contract, a $0.5 million award from Navajo County, Arizona, to design and construct a new, wider bridge on Cholla Lake Road in Joseph City, Ariz. The design team partner for the project is T.Y. Lin International. All of these new projects are scheduled to be completed before December 31st.

CH2M HILL Lands $100 Million Nevada Power Project

CH2M HILL has been awarded a $100 million engineering, procurement, construction (EPC) project by Nevada Power Company for its new Clark Station power generating plant in Henderson, Nev. CH2M HILL will provide complete engineering, balance-of-plant procurement and construction for the project. Construction is scheduled to begin June 1, with substantial completion expected by July 2008. The peak construction work force is expected to be about 150 craft laborers. As the single-source EPC contractor, CH2M HILL has developed the project schedule based on an integrated EPC approach, with the start-up and construction staff intimately involved with the upfront engineering effort.

The new generating station will use 12 Pratt & Whitney FT8 gas turbines with selective catalyst reduction control. CH2M HILL is currently designing and building the Tracy 500 megawatt combined cycle power plant for Sierra Pacific Resources. Sierra Pacific Resources is the parent company of Nevada Power.

Korte Begins TI Project for SNWA

Acquisition of Hard Rock Completed

Morgans Hotel Group Co. and its equity partner DLJ Merchant Banking Partners have completed the acquisition of the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and related assets.

The purchase price was approximately $770 million. MHG is funding one-third of the equity, approximately $57.5 million, and DLJMB is funding two-thirds, approximately $115 million. Under the terms of the joint venture agreements, DLJMB agreed to fund 100% of the capital required to expand the Hard Rock property, up to a total of an additional $150 million. MHG will have the option to fund the expansion project proportionate to its equity interest in the joint venture.

The remainder of the purchase price was financed with mortgage financing under a credit agreement entered into by the joint venture. The credit agreement provides for a secured term loan facility, with a term of two years or more, consisting of a $760 million loan for the acquisition including renovation and financing costs and reserves, and a loan of up to $600 million for future expansion of the Hard Rock.

In connection with this financing, MHG and DLJMB entered into joint and several guaranties of completion of the expansion project.

Crisci to Complete TI for Boyd Gaming Executive Offices

Las Vegas-based Crisci Builders has been contracted by Crescent Partners to build out the executive offices of Boyd Gaming, totaling 21,462 sq ft.

Crisci Builders commenced construction in December and expects the offices at 3883 Howard Hughes Parkway to be completed this month.

Las Vegas-based JMA is the architect of record. Crisci Builders' Paul Auzenne is serving as manager for the $1.78 million tenant improvement project.

Colours Designs Interiors of Galileo Discovery Center

Las Vegas-based Colours, Inc. has been contracted in conjunction with Irvine, Calif.-based architecture firm Danielian Associates Architecture + Planning to complete the interior design work of the Galileo Discovery Center at Lake Las Vegas.

The design team will implement a Florentine-style theme that includes textured Italian fabrics from Coraggio Textiles, templed stones, aged wood, warm nude tones and all-stone floors. The Discovery Center will be used as a sales, marketing and in-home design center for homeowners.
Galileo, a Florentine-style village, is the first residential development on the North Shore of the Lake Las Vegas community in Henderson. A project of

The Fountainhead Company, a Southern Nevada/Washington D.C. area development firm, Galileo will offer resort living with 324 luxury villas. Home buyers will be able to purchase fully-furnished units that range from 1,300 to 2,500 sq ft.

Colours also recently relocated its offices to Holsum Lofts into a 3,000-sq-ft office space in downtown Las Vegas.

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