Town Center ready to go

      Six years ago, Richard Portaro fought a proposed 1.1 million-square-foot regional mall at the northeast corner of Charleston and Rampart boulevards.
      Now, Triple Five Nevada Development Corp. has come forward with plans for an "urban village" consisting of 1.3 million square feet of mixed-use retail, residential, office and specialty shops for that same 100-acre lot.
      But does this new development have Portaro gearing up for another fight?
      No.
      In fact, the West Mesa Estates resident is endorsing the $150 million project, patterned after a concept that has worked well in Boca Raton, Fla., and Sacramento, Calif.
      "I previously got involved in opposing the regional mall and expended a lot of time and energy," he said. "When I heard about this project, I decided to get involved because it makes a lot of sense for the area."
      Patterned after Boca Raton Mizner Park, the urban village has a combination of condominiums and various retail facilities, art galleries, bookstores, restaurants, professional offices, a hotel and an outdoor amphitheater.
      "I'm very familiar with Mizner Park," Portaro said. "It's a very class-act the likes of which Las Vegas hasn't seen before."
      The project, called the Peccole Town Center, will feature shopping outlets that will fulfill the community's daily needs including a grocery store, apparel and durable goods stores and a drugstore in its first phase.
      The first phase will likely begin construction in June and should open by the summer of 1999. The second phase, which will include offices, restaurants, 125 condominiums and a hotel, should be completed by 2001.
      "Our (modus operandi) is that we don't have one," said Stacy Rush, executive vice president of Canada-based Triple Five. "We don't fit a slot. Our approach is more of a retailers approach, but we're very sensitive to the community. We're in the business of working with communities to determine their retail needs and then developing retail to fit those needs."
      Triple Five also is building the Village Square center at Fort Apache Road and Sahara Avenue along with an apartment complex and a housing tract in Peccole Ranch.
      Currently, only a Target store is specifically mentioned as a tenant in the first phase. Rush said others, including a grocery and drugstore, will sign on later.
      The center will be neatly arranged around an interior boulevard developed as a pedestrian-friendly street plaza providing tree-lined walkways, large European-style fountains and park benches.
      "This space needs to service the local need," said Steve Swisher, of Swisher & Hall AIA Ltd., the architects of the project. "And the best way to do that is an urban village.
      "What we do is take a main boulevard and add a mix of activities."
      Including a high-end residential component. The 125 condominiums, built on the second story of retail shops on the main thoroughfare, are expected to start at $250,000.
      The town center also plans for three fashion anchors and a 248-room nongaming hotel.
      "The urban village concept provides a sense of centeredness and serves as a community gathering place," Swisher said.
      That's a far cry from the initial regional mall plan of six years ago.
      Portaro said he initially fought the plans for a regional mall because it would attract shoppers from throughout the valley.
      He endorsed the new project because he thinks it's more community oriented.