County officials skeptical of developer’s plan for Binion Ranch

A presentation by the Las Vegas developer who wants to purchase the Binion property and convert a nearby 27-acre parcel into a shopping center left a few in the audience indifferent on Tuesday night.

Doug McGeary, president of Delta Commercial Group, submitted a plan to Nye County Commissioners to purchase and develop the 138-acre Binion Ranch located at 700 E. Wilson Road in Pahrump and acquire a 27.33-acre parcel at the northwest corner of Basin Road and Highway 160 where he wants to build a shopping center.

Under the plan, McGeary said he would move rodeo grounds, basketball and tennis courts, the pool and fire department that are located on the 27-acre lot owned by the town of Pahrump. The proposal drew criticism from some of the Nye County Commissioners and members of the audience.

Commissioner Butch Borasky questioned whether Pahrump residents would support moving a number of community facilities to another location.

"I looked through your presentation and it's very impressive," he said. "I don't see anybody, maybe other than a couple of my colleagues might be interested in that."

In a tentative proposal for the development of the Binion Ranch, McGeary included an enclosed and outdoor rodeo arena, bocce ball, two baseball fields, four basketball courts, four tennis courts, soccer field, children's playground and a dog park.

"We do have the Binion Ranch under contract," he said. "If we buy it for $1.75 million and would provide $5 million worth of funding to improve it beyond where it's now, that would be a function of what the county would want to do there."

"This is an opportunity, in my opinion, to springboard into a different identity for Pahrump."

Norma Jean Opatik, the broker with Realty Executives of Nevada, said the property was listed for sale at $1.75 million as of Thursday.

"We have other people that are looking (at the property), but they haven't written any formal offer," Opatik said in a phone interview.

Delta Commercial Group has previously developed the Smith's at 601 S. Highway 160 and Pahrump Valley Junction at Basin Road and South Highway 160 in Pahrump. For the last five years, the company has also built numerous shopping centers in Las Vegas including Walmart, Costco and a number of Smith's and Albertson's.

"And I know that there are lot of people in Pahrump and smaller communities that don't want developers to come in, they don't want the community to develop," McGeary said. "They don't want the traffic, the congestion, but I think that there's a level that a community has to reach to be self-sustained. … This is a unique opportunity and our proposal is pretty simple: we propose to enter into an agreement and look into the alternatives, look into the possibilities. What can be done with those facilities."

Commissioner Donna Cox argued that the project would help to create a revenue stream and spring up tourism in Pahrump.

"I spoke with people of all different facets of businesses and income levels and I've yet to find anybody saying they are nagging about this (project)," she said. "You are always going to have a few people (who are opposed to this), but the majority of people, they want to try to overcome the negativity, they want something kind of exciting to come to town."

Some of the biggest questions however were the cost of relocating the fire station and swimming pool from the 27-acre lot, as well as improving several surrounding roads, as officials pondered whether the project would come with a steeper price tag than expected.

"There's things that we don't know about, it's going to cost you more money," Commissioner Frank Carbone said. "Again, the same money that you want to give us is the same money you want us to go do something. … So whatever gets consumed there to build the arena, the baseball field, that's going to consume that $5 million."

The officials have yet to vote on a proposal. In the meantime, McGeary said he plans to do a more detailed analysis on price and benefits of the project and fine-tune the cost of moving facilities from the 27-acre lot.

"I expect to reappear in front of county commissioners in two months," he said.