COLUMN: Carmel Hopkins

Members of the Urban Land Institute will gather in Las Vegas from Tuesday through Friday for the group's 2002 Fall Meeting.

ULI comprises about 17,000 members who are engaged in the process of real estate development and land-use policy-making in the public and private sectors.

Its members plan, develop and redevelop neighborhoods, business districts and communities across the United States and around the world. They include experts from 13 product sectors and 26 disciplines.

The mission of the institute is to provide responsible leadership in land use to enhance the total environment.

What does this have to do with Las Vegas?

This is the institute's first national meeting here, so members will have an opportunity to tour the valley and discover the myriad opportunities available to Southern Nevadans.

Robert Lewis, president of Lewis Operating Corp., heads the local chapter of ULI and is responsible for seeing that all goes well during the gathering.

"They like to go places where it's not just a venue for meeting, where there will be mobile workshops that tie in with the community," Lewis said. "Attendees like to go to happening places where they can showcase the latest and greatest of real estate developments.

"Some places, all they deal with is limited development, such as New York where it's either high-rises or redevelopment. Here, we not only have redevelopment issues such as downtown, but we have Summerlin, the nation's fastest selling master-planned community. We also offer really unique development such as Lake Las Vegas; we have all kinds of BLM things going on, time-share, resort development, golf course development and a fair amount of industrial, office and commercial."

Lewis said those are all reasons why the ULI proposed bringing the convention to Las Vegas.

Another benefit the meeting brings to the community, other than the convention dollars that will be filling our coffers, is the benefit of showing off our challenges and opportunities.

"We will be showing off a variety of issues, more than any other location (where meetings have been held previously)," Lewis said. "Smart growth kind of issues, studies and educational approaches."

He pointed out that one of our hot buttons, the Nevada Power vs. Water Authority controversy, will permit attendees to get a firsthand look at a different type of challenge.

"We're not supposed to conduct business" at these meetings," Lewis said. "It's purely educational -- no consultants selling services. This is a mix of educators, consultants, environmentalists and developers."

One of the many benefits of these gatherings is the sharing of experiences. Lewis said they range from the insignificant, such as how to shield homes from the lights of a nearby baseball diamond, to the problems of building a planned community around a casino near Biloxi, Miss.

"ULI has changed a lot," he said. "When I first joined you had to be nominated. Back then, the meetings were terribly pricey. Now, they're encouraging more diversity. It's no longer the typical 52-year-old white male member. The membership runs all ages, genders and races and is neither developer-dominated nor government-dominated."

So, if you see the buses schlepping visitors throughout the valley next week, wave and welcome them to Las Vegas.

Carmel Hopkins, real estate product manager for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Las Vegas Sun, can be reached at 380-4574. Her e-mail address is Carmel_Hopkins@ lasvegasnewspapers.com. Snail mail is P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125.

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