Lane advising group wanting to develop retail space at South Lake Tahoe convention center site
By Kathryn Reed
Six years after the first mound of dirt was moved on the then-$410 million hotel-convention center project, more may be turned over.
Bill Owens, who owns 20 of the 29 parcels on the 11-plus-acre site by Stateline, is ready to build part of the project.
The goal is in summer 2013 work will begin on developing 30,000-square-feet of retail space – exactly what was originally planned. Depending on how fast work progresses, shops could be open by the holidays a year from now.
Owens owns about two-thirds of the project site on the east end of South Lake Tahoe. City National owns the other nine parcels that constitute about one-third of the site. The latter has not come forward with any ideas for that section.
A pedestrian on Dec. 13 walks from the fenced off non-existent convention center toward McP’s Pub. Photo/Kathryn Reed
In October, the city hired a structural engineer to determine if the concrete and rebar are stable. The report said there would be no problem building on top of what was laid years ago.
The City Council at its Dec. 11 meeting briefly discussed the resurrection of the project.
City Manager Nancy Kerry at the meeting said a performance bond and parcel consolidation map would be in place before construction crews return to the idle site.
Not having those helped contribute to the mess that has ensued. While Councilman Hal Cole now wants that bond, he at one time told this reporter there is no such thing as a performance bond.
Nonetheless, the council agreed to put Cole and Mayor Tom Davis on the ad hoc committee that will be working with the developer. Cole with then-Councilman John Upton were the only two electeds to have read the market report that did not favor a convention center, but told their peers to go ahead with it.
Randy Lane, the original builder who ran the now bankrupt Lake Tahoe Development Company, is an adviser to Owens and is the person to whom the city has been talking about moving forward. Owens is the leader of Owens Financial, one of the lending agencies that ended up with property when the largest development project in South Lake Tahoe’s history folded.
Lane told Lake Tahoe News he expects to submit the necessary paperwork to South Lake Tahoe officials the first week of January.
Kerry said it could be a $10 million infusion of cash into the local economy if construction resumes.
“It could be a catalyst for economic recovery in the area,” Kerry told Lake Tahoe News. “We are excited that something is going to get going and getting rid of the blight that is pulling down economic recovery.”
Sidewalks would be put in and other streetscape aspects as were originally planned. This will help with safety issues because right now there is minimal room to walk along the fenced-off site on Highway 50.
What businesses may go in there remains to be seen.
“I’m not concerned about the leasing part of it,” Lane said.
Originally McP’s Pub, which is still open at the western edge of the site, was going to move into the new center. It was going to be three times the size it is now, with a stage, more pool tables and expanded food menu.
Pete Joseph, who owns McP’s, is out of the town and unavailable for comment.
Lane said he had not spoken with Joseph to see if he would want to keep with the original plan.
This new first phase (the originally project had two phases) would stop short of the current McP’s bar-restaurant.
Making sure the public and businesses are secure is another concern of the city’s. The proposed development would go about one-third of the way from Highway 50 to Cedar Avenue. Right now it’s covered in concrete and rebar and has a cyclone fence around it.
Parking for the retail center would need to be worked out, too. In the first set of plans underground parking was to be provided for some aspects of the project. But the council and Tahoe Regional Planning Agency officials in the permits that were issued allowed for the project to go forward without adequate parking. The developer was supposed to secure parking at Harveys, but that was never done. So, whether enough spaces would be incorporated into the project as it’s put together in a piecemeal process remains to be seen.
the Hole gets deeper
let Randy Lane and ol Hal back in there they will fix the problem
Why would they secure parking at Harvey’s, isn’t that concrete we see at the hole now, the parking garage? I always thought that was underground parking.
More baloney, starring the same scoundrels. Get rid of Lane, Cole and Davis and throw out Kerry if she goes along with their shceming.
This project needs new money and new minds and new ideas. Not the same old same old.
Hey, maybe that should be the new south shore name — Same Ol’ Same Ol’
“But the council and Tahoe Regional Planning Agency officials in the permits that were issued allowed for the project to go forward without adequate parking. The developer was supposed to secure parking at Harveys, but that was never done. So, whether enough spaces would be incorporated into the project as it’s put together in a piecemeal process remains to be seen”
NO! Are you kidding?? Have we not learned anything about the lunacy of doing things piecemeal? With our infrastructure and general 21st Century planning now decades behind, another half-baked, recycled plan that was sketchy from the get go IS THE WRONG WAY TO PROCEED!
“Cole with then-Councilman John Upton were the only two electeds to have read the market report that did not favor a convention center, but told their peers to go ahead with it.”
Sure, It didn’t pencil out before….hey…let’s try the same thing again and see if we get a different result. This entire core zone has to be rethought as a place were not just a ‘convention center’ but an entire multi-modal structure can accommodate everything from conventions to large music events, to industrial expositions, to educational functions and be a demonstration of how green building works…….. right up too the park-like living roof and geodesic dome greenhouse.
Parking should not be some sort of ‘second thought’ but an integral part of how an entire multi-modal transit system works. That means integrating, drive-up autos, city transit stock, water borne, pedestrian, and cycling modalities.
Don’t even think of letting a half-baked, hail mary plan like this ever see the light of day. Time moves forward…this a a giant leap backward and I’m shocked to read it’s even being considered. HUMBUG!
Now I’m agreeing with Tom Wendell.
The end MUST be near!
Right on, Tom.
Randy Lane back to selling snake oil?
What is it about this towns redevelopment debacles, and the re-occurring usual suspects? Haven’t we seen enough of the Lane/Feldman dog and pony show?
Cautiously optimistic. Wish there was some new blood involved. Having experience based on what doesn’t work can be helpful. However these folks need some guidance that is based on success.
Yeah, that’s what we need, more empty spaces for retail, because that’s why people come to Tahoe…to shop. And of course it will be affordable for local busisnesses to occupy…and will fit into a long range sustaianble community plan…
There is such an opportunity there, but people just want to get thier money and run with the blanket justification of “build anything and they will come”…they just won’t be able to park.
NO! This is a slap in the face to the entire community and a disgrace to the Lake itself.
It doesn’t take a State-funded study to demonstrate what this will do. How will this affect retail in the REST of this town? How many more retail space vacancies will this CAUSE?
The developer, Randy Lane, said, “I’m not concerned with the leasing of it.” Of course not. Why should HE care what happens afterward? He’ll get paid to build it.
Government officials should be able to see the shortsightedness of this project! Something/anything in the HOLE is NOT better than nothing in this case. Sure, $10 million in cash is projected to be infused in to the local economy during construction, but then what?
This plan does not fit the new vision that this town is yearning for! We have the opportunity to create a space which will ATTRACT TOURISM and DIVERSIFY THE ECONOMY! Instead, this plan will dilute our economy and rob the rest of town, while enriching the folks who brought us the HOLE in the first place.
I can already see the parking meters the city throws up all around the area
All the heavy hitters will be back, Feldman, Lane, Midkiff, front row Carl, and all their kissing cousins will be coming to the city trough again. Feldman he has fooled the city two times already why not make it three, and have him write the MOU, NICE.
If all this property is privately owned, why are taxpayers picking up the tab for the city’s hiring of a structural engineer to check the rebar and concrete?
What should happen is for the City to get rid of Cole and Davis and wake up. This will never help the City or the locals.Davis will prosper and so will Cole and the City will pay the bill again, when will this town WAKE UP???????
Convention center? What a joke!
You’ve got the same people involved that went bankrupt, the developer, or politicians that turned a blind eye when things did not go as planned. The whole idea of a hotel/convention center was not thought through. Every casino in town has a large convention room and even those aren’t used very often.
A hotel and time shares? Yeah, time shares worked out just great from their inception in the 70’s. It was a scam then and a scam now.
Not enough adequate parking? Same thing that happened with Heavenly Village. Take away peoples businesses through emminent domain, demolish them, and throw up a new set of buildings and then come to the realization they didn’t include parking into their “master plan”. Only then did they add the parking garage as an afterthought. Yeah, that worked out real well! As I recall reading, Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and hoping for a different result…
Business as usual in good ol’ So. Shore. Old Long Skiis
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Lake Tahoe is in dire need of a marketing campaign, in particular South Shore.
When a prominent “marketing” person makes presentations about the need to reduce the ‘supply’ (using Tahoe Fund monies to demolish), with no mention at all of DEMAND. . .supply & demand are joined at the hip for any reasonable marketing effort – betting Tahoe being an “automatic” via ‘build it & they will come’ meets the Einstein insanity definition referred to above. . .
Embassy close to the auction block, even at 90+ occupancy, Marriott with 4,000 locations worldwide; timeshares with chiices
Geez. Sounds like mindless greed is in motion again.
I appreciate Tom Wendell and Ryan Payne’s comments. Well said.
P.S. Does this article imply they are considering just burying the concrete and rebar and not making use of the original plan for underground parking? What a waste and embarrassment. Sell the property to someone who will make us proud.
[to complete #15 above]
choices to choose from anywhere but here, even with 90% there, too.
Leaning strictly toward corporate interests will not result in “livable, walkable communities” as the just-passed RPU – just more profit going elsewhere.
Wow! Lots of baggage being carried forward. How is it we cannot come up with a feasible, realistic use of the hole without the “same ‘ole” tagging along. Personally, not only is more well thought-outness (there’s a good word) needed but more of a consensus agreement among residents. Seems there is a lot of negatives associated with this “new” plan. Good luck to all involved. I hope we get things going in the right direction soon.
The city will do what it wants because as Kerry said a $10 million dollar infusion of cash…….
Time for all you bloggers to show up at a council meeting and share your frustration.
I’ve supported several of the recent revitalization projects in the Basin, and I’m a big supporter of the RPU. But Tom Wendell is right; a half-baked project like this is not going to achieve any of the sustainability goals for Tahoe.
Its time for the TRPA and the City to serve their function and not allow it to be built until it is done right.
Its groundhog day.
The city and it’s people didn’t care then ,Why should they Now?
Money talks and no one cares where it comes from as long as it Spends.
The whole project was doomed from the beginning,it won’t do a thing to enrich our residents,the talk of tax for the city coffers,jobs,nothing short of a few people own agendas that have none you in the picture.
But like a lot people pointed out ,it end up costing the locals one way or another.