COLUMN: Molasky honored with Lieder Award

When it came time to give out the first Lieder Award, the Lied Institute for Real Estate Studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, chose longtime Las Vegas home builder Robert Lewis. The head of Lewis Homes of Nevada was a logical and popular choice.

The only problem was how institute director Debra March could meet the high standards she had set when deciding on the second annual award winner.

That problem was solved easily by choosing Irwin Molasky -- real estate mogul, television and film producer, thoroughbred horse owner, and longtime resident and promoter of Las Vegas.

Some of Molasky's longtime friends and business associates gathered last Wednesday at Piero's where March honored him with the second annual Lieder award, which goes to individuals who have impacted the real estate industry in Southern Nevada.

Las Vegans have driven past and enjoyed the use of many of the local structures that bear the Molasky signature. With his partner, Merv Adelson, Molasky reshaped the local landscape with Paradise Palms, a 1,500-home golf-course community that is now the Las Vegas National Golf Club.

In the late 1950s and '60s, the men built Sunrise Hospital, the area's first private hospital, with 58 beds and two surgery units on a dirt road that later would become Maryland Parkway. Today, Sunrise Hospital has more than 600 beds and 1,200 doctors on staff.

The two men then built the Boulevard Mall, the first enclosed shopping venue in Nevada. The mall has grown to more than 1.4 million square feet, making it the largest shopping mall in the state.

Molasky and Adelson were key in the development of the UNLV campus through a donation of 45 acres at Flamingo Road and Maryland Parkway. Molasky was the founding chairman of the UNLV Foundation.

Other Molasky structures include downtown Las Vegas' first high-rise office building, the Bank of America Plaza, which was built in 1976; and the Nathan Adelson Hospice, the city's first final-care facility near the UNLV campus.

Most recently, the managing partner of the Molasky Cos. has joined with his children, Steven, Andrew, Alan and Beth, to develop residences, office parks and commercial properties such as Best in the West and Best on the Boulevard shopping centers.

The family's most recent vision, Park Towers at Hughes Center, consists of two 20-story condominium towers. This luxury product has changed the face of home building in the Las Vegas Valley and was greeted and purchased with enthusiasm by an international clientele.

To top it all off, Molasky is one of those genuine human beings who has touched thousands of lives and made the world a better place. He goes through life with passion and offers compassion and friendship to everyone with whom he comes into contact.

It was a festive occasion, and a pleasure to honor a giant in the industry. Too often we wait until someone's gone before we pay him tribute. In this case, we were all there to shake his hand, give him a hug and a pat on the back and raise our glasses to praise his deeds.

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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