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Speaking to about 1,200 business people at the Orleans Arena, Hollingsworth said local expansion in fields such as transportation and biotechnology have turned Las Vegas into more than a gambling city in the middle of the desert. Last year, the Nevada Development Authority brought 60 new companies to Southern Nevada, 32 of them from California, creating 1,353 jobs and an economic impact of $243 million, he said. "Why do we diversify? It's simple. We've never really been in control of our future," Hollingsworth said. "We've always been dependent on the tourism industry. They subsidized our life here. It broadens our tax base. Then we don't have to rely on one person 100 percent of the time." More than half of Nevada's general fund is supported by gaming and 75 percent of that comes from Las Vegas, he said. Hollingsworth mentioned the Nevada Cancer Institute that started construction in January 2004 near Interstate 215 and Town Center Drive and the Nevada Neurosciences Institute at 3186 S. Maryland Parkway as examples of how Las Vegas has evolved into one of the country's new centers for biotechnology development. Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, who gave the opening remarks, talked about the University of Pittsburgh's involvement in a world-class medical institute downtown and the performing arts center that could be part of his 61-acre "jewel of the desert," which was acquired in a trade with Lehman Bros. for 100 acres in the Las Vegas Technology Center in northwest Las Vegas. Hollingsworth said the medical sector of this community will grow by "leaps and bounds" in the next five years. "Why is all of this happening in Las Vegas? It's been going on for 25 years, but it really accelerated in the last five years. We call it Las Vegas attitude. We're No. 1 in pro-growth attitude. You can't tell us it won't happen. Not only will it happen, but it'll happen in record time," Hollingsworth said. "You have no idea what that means around the country where they're simply putting every form of burden they can on development -- taxes and permits. That simply does not happen in Southern Nevada." Another advantage in attracting new business to Las Vegas is a deep work force, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. "Trust me. I grew up here. It doesn't sound like a big deal. Go anywhere else in the country and try to find that. It's just not natural to get up in the middle of the night and go to work," Hollingsworth said. The 104-page 25th anniversary edition of Las Vegas Perspective is packed with statistics and demographics that bear out Hollingsworth's enthusiasm for the city's prospects. Comparing real estate taxes, a hot topic during this year's Legislature in Carson City, the book shows Las Vegas ranks lower than all but one of 10 regional metropolitan areas with a total annual real property tax cost of $284,552 for a 350,000-square-foot light industrial building on 20 acres. Phoenix was highest at $611,010 and Reno was lowest at $253,231. Las Vegas ranked fourth-lowest among 20 cities for total annual high-tech operating costs at $10.2 million, compared with San Francisco ($12.1 million) at the top and Oklahoma City ($9.7 million) at the bottom. Las Vegas doubled in population in the last 10 years and will double again in the next two decades, said Steve Bottfeld, executive vice president of Marketing Solutions, a Las Vegas-based consumer research firm. With a population gain that topped 100,000 last year, Las Vegas will continue to see increased demand for housing, which will push new-home sales above 32,000 this year and existing home prices up 16 percent to 20 percent, Bottfeld said. "We're standing by it. We're already up 11 percent (on resale prices). We're going to be low on this one," he said. "We are finally at the point in which demand has exceeded supply. We're on the edge of another housing boom. The key is it may take two to three months to get into it and it won't be as strong as 2004, but it'll be very powerful." ----- To see more of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.lvrj.com. Copyright (c) 2005, Las Vegas Review-Journal Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail [email protected]. |