"The concept of Midtown UNLV came about during the master planning process as a holistic means to achieve the much-needed revitalization of historic Maryland Parkway in concert with the UNLV campus master plan. The concept, conceived by UNLV Foundation trustee Michael Saltman and President Carol C. Harter, envisions an integrated campus village at the heart of our community, bordered by pedestrian-friendly shopping, dining and entertainment developments, mixed-use housing and other resources to ensure long-term economic vitality. "
— Midtown's website
Judging by the flock of mechanical cranes, the chess-like movement of dozens of hardhatted construction workers and the slow-rising hull of one of the nine buildings planned for 66 acres between Bellagio and Monte Carlo, things are humming along at Project City Center, MGM Mirage's $7 billion gamble that Vegas is ready for a new "urban metropolis."
But what would happen to City Center, the nation's largest and most expensive private real estate project if, say, Kirk Kerkorian (MGM Mirage's biggest shareholder), Terry Lanni (chairman and CEO) and Jim Murren (president) left or took on diminished roles? Would it continue as planned, morph into something different or fall by the wayside?
In a tangential way, UNLV's Midtown project, as high-minded and transformative as City Center is expansive and pricey, faces such a dilemma. It's tethered to UNLV's hopes of becoming a world-class institution and to overarching goals like birthing a creative class and vivifying the surrounding neighborhoods.
As it stands now, Midtown is mostly a vision, a utopian dream of Saltman's, a dream that's moving forward without the direct, day-to-day advocacy of its preliminary champions.
Former four-term Tempe, Arizona, mayor Neil Giuliano was originally hired to promote Midtown—he oversaw the revitalization of Mill Avenue near Arizona State University. But he has moved on to become the president of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. Giuliano declined comment through a GLAAD spokesman: "He said he hasn't been involved in the project in over a year and that he's not involved at all anymore."
Also missing from the helm: Former Clark County manager Thom Reilly, he of deft political acumen, sparkling educational background and committed social advocacy. Reilly left the county in August to lead the University of Nevada Health Sciences Center. A month later, he accepted a job as vice president of community reinvestment and social responsibility at Harrah's Entertainment. Reilly's now in the midst of a one-year cooling-off period, in which he can't officially lobby for Midtown to the County Commission—because the county is expected to cover some of the project's cost.
Co-Midtown visionary and the biggest project supporter not named Michael Saltman, former UNLV President Carol Harter now leads the UNLV-affiliated Black Mountain Institute, described on its website as "an international center dedicated to advancing literary and cross-cultural dialogue."
That's three-fourths of the initial brain trust gone, their roles curtailed or eliminated.
According to its website, Midtown's goal is to "improve access to [the] campus, to unify the university's urban identity and to integrate the campus with the surrounding community. The plan specifically identifies a need to develop an inviting signature entrance to campus where Harmon Avenue meets historic Maryland Parkway. A young, dynamic institution, UNLV has developed in synergy with our bright community as a source of and impetus for its social and economic development. In the same way, the physical identity and environs of the university should reflect its relationship with the surrounding community."
A lofty goal to be sure. The trick now is reaching it without direct input from its biggest backers.
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Saltman, who owns the Vista Group commercial real estate development and management company, still captains Midtown's ship. He's a university donor and member of the UNLV Foundation, which raises and manages private funds for the school. Traveling in Johannesburg, South Africa, Saltman e-mailed to say that "it's all systems go [regarding] the Midtown UNLV project." In a later call, Saltman says Midtown is bigger than any one person, himself included.
"Virginia Valentine has moved into Thom's position, David Ashley has moved into Carol's position and several key people have stepped into Neil's role, so I'm getting tons of support, but this project is much bigger than me," he says.
Back in town, Harter and Reilly are quick to note their continued belief in the project. Attempts to reach Ashley were unsuccessful. In June 2005, Harter told the Weekly that Midtown is "a physical manifestation, a metaphor for community involvement."
Sixteen months and a new job later, Harter sees herself not as divorced from Midtown, but engaged in a different manner. She considers the Black Mountain Institute, which is composed of the Forum on Contemporary Cultures, the North American Network of Cities of Asylum and the International Institute of Modern Letters, "a programmatic part of Midtown in terms of bringing writers here to discuss issues." Saltman's on the institute's board, Harter says, so they see other a lot and regularly talk about Midtown. "[Saltman] is involved more in the physical and geographic part of the project," she says, noting the institute's role in encouraging intellectual discourse. Midtown, she says, "is a very complex, multi-dimensional project that will take years, if not decades, to develop. He [Saltman] is totally committed to this. The new UNLV president [David Ashley] is interested in the project. Since I was there from the beginning and I work on campus, it means a great deal to me personally and professionally to see Midtown come to fruition. I will help when asked. So I think it's full steam ahead."
Harter expects the Regional Transportation Commission and the County Commission to weigh in soon on plans to reconfigure Maryland Parkway, which could include reducing the six-lane road to four or two lanes: "Right now, they're getting a lot of input on narrowing Maryland Parkway. It's a huge undertaking, like turning around the Titanic in a parking lot, because there are lots of agendas involved and people that need to be persuaded on this."
Reilly says its success largely hinges on government and community buy-in. That entails educating everyone—"Regents, the County Commission, the community, the university community." And includes having a "robust discussion of what Midtown means." Reilly says Midtown's costs will ultimately be borne by UNLV, county government and the private sector.
County public works spokesman Bobby Shelton says the department hasn't done a scale model of Midtown, generally viewed as a precursor to construction. In an e-mail, Shelton says there are still major issues to resolve, least of all funding. "Where do we put the vehicles if Maryland Parkway's traffic capacity is reduced?"
Nearly 45,000 cars a day travel on Maryland Parkway from Harmon to Tropicana, says Bruce Turner, planning manager for the Regional Transportation Commission. Next up is a comparison of traffic flows—current versus a months-long test period in which Maryland Parkway is narrowed. Though the RTC is a neutral third party, Turner says "we'd certainly be interested in looking at the role of mass transit and public transit's role in Midtown."
County Commission approval for narrowing Maryland Parkway could come as soon as next month, Saltman says. Neighborhood meetings would follow and, by the first or second quarter of 2007, he says the street would be narrowed from six lanes to four and parallel parking would be allowed on both sides of the street.
Says Saltman: "We're changing the environment for the neighborhood."
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Despite their vaunted brainpower, the departures of Giuliano, Harter and Reilly may be small pebbles, not major stumbling blocks. Looming larger are the daunting tasks of reverse-engineering the mindsets of a driving-centric populace used to using Maryland Parkway, convincing business owners that fewer cars won't hurt their bottom lines, selling students on Midtown's benefits and alleviating concerns about the project's gentrifying effects. Harter seems convinced that Midtown's message of hope trumps the dwindling supply of messengers.
"If I had just disappeared off the face of the earth or had no involvement anymore with Midtown, I would feel as if I'm still spiritually involved with it and would be supportive of it," Harter says.
Reilly says Midtown has the potential to be UNLV's defining moment—much as MGM Mirage officials say City Center will change the Vegas paradigm. If all goes well, Reilly says Midtown will go toward increasing interconnection between UNLV and the public, helping "the university flow into the community."
"It's critical for this community to have more places like this," he says, "whether it's First Fridays or Midtown, so that people can have discussions and form their political and social identities. I don't think this [his departure and those of Giuliano and Harter] halts momentum. This is a good project. I don't think it's tied to people, but to a vision. The worst thing would be for a project to be tied to one person or a few people and those people leave."
Saltman wants Midtown to develop organically, much like a city, to be a "never-ending project" and a "continuing philosophy" that synthesizes the university, neighborhoods and businesses into a cohesive, creative whole.
"Midtown will benefit everybody in the area—more housing, more retail, more clubs, a more urban environment," Saltman says. "Students are the primary beneficiaries. It will give them a reason to stay on campus and near the university."