Every year, based on construction industry research and nominations from our readers (mostly contractors, architects and engineers from across the region), we select a group of up to three finalists for the Owner of the Year award in each of ENR’s 10 regions.

The recognition is based on ongoing, recently completed and proposed projects by owners or developers within the region, which in the Southwest includes Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico. Then the ENR editors from around the country vote to determine the winner.

That vote is now complete, and the City of Las Vegas is our top choice for 2021 in the Southwest. The City and its portfolio are slated for a feature story in the upcoming March issue of ENR Southwest.

The city is managing several large civic and infrastructure projects that will enhance the traditional downtown area and is pushing innovation to reduce its notoriously snarled streets in the resort areas. Among those, the city’s ongoing partnership with Elon Musk’s Boring Co. to move forward with new tunnels under the city, in addition to the tunnel already being built under the convention center.

Here’s a list of current and recently completed projects for the City of Las Vegas:

• A $125-million, three-year improvement of  2.5 miles of Las Vegas Boulevard, as well as nearby Bridger Avenue and Third Street. The streets provide access to the downtown business district and the casinos along Fremont Street. It is the city’s largest-ever public works project.
• $2.1-billion Las Vegas Convention Center Phase II Expansion, still under construction by Martin-Harris Construction, in a joint venture with Turner.
• $56.3-million 140,000-sq-ft Las Vegas Municipal Courthouse, under construction, scheduled for completion later this year by Martin-Harris Construction.
• The Las Vegas City Council in December granted a special use permit that allows Elon Musk’s Boring Co. to extend its Vegas Loop transportation system into the city. The 4.6-mile counterclockwise circuit will run north under Las Vegas Boulevard to the downtown resort corridor and south on Main Street. No start date, contracting team or projected construction costs have been made public yet.
• $33.1-million Symphony Park Parking Garages, two multi-level municipal parking garages owned by the city that serve visitors to Symphony Park in downtown Vegas. Each garage contains approximately 600 parking spaces and 28,500 sq ft of shell space for street-level retail.Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. completed the project in December 2019. It won a 2020 Southwest Best Projects Merit Award for Government and Public Buildings.