Construction at the site has already begun. The whimsical exterior of the 10,000 square-foot Joe's Crab Shack is almost completed and the casual seafood restaurant is scheduled to open in September. The Joe's Crab Shack at "Hospitality Row" will be the national chain's first location in Southern Nevada and is a division of Landry's Seafood Restaurants.

An American classic casual dining experience is what Houlihan's will bring to "Hospitality Row" when it opens next January. The 7,500 square-foot Houlihan's Restaurant will also be the first Southern Nevada location for this national chain.

The 154-room Courtyard by Marriott is designed with business travelers in mind and will bring much needed non-gaming hotel rooms to the northwest part of the Las Vegas Valley when it opens during the second half of 1998.

The 12,000 square-foot Sears owned National Tire and Battery is a new kind of automobile service shop specializing in tires and batteries only. The store is designed to be neighborhood friendly with no unsightly service bays facing the streets. NTB is scheduled to open in February of 1998.

Finally, the 10,000 square-foot Nevada State Bank branch will be the only bank on the corner of Rainbow and Lake Mead when it opens next March.

"Bringing these new merchants to this area of town was part of the idea behind this center," says Hank Gordon, president of Laurich Properties. "We wanted to build a center that was different and fun, but that would also mesh well with the area's existing retail centers."

"Hospitality Row" is a joint venture between Laurich Properties Inc. and the Molasky Companies and was designed to complement the "big box" retailers at another Laurich/Molasky project located diagonally across Rainbow and Lake Mead, BEST in the WEST Power Center.

Shoppers will be able to stop by "Hospitality Row" to do their banking and service their car; then head over to BEST in the WEST to shop at stores such as Best Buy, Borders, Copelan's Sports, HomePlace, Old Navy, Organized Living and PETsMART; then return to "Hospitality Row" to relax at Houlihan's and Joe's Crab Shack.

Laurich Properties, Inc. is the largest Las Vegas-based shopping center development company serving Southern Nevada, with more than 3 million square feet under development. The company has developed successful shopping centers for the last 40 years in eight western states, including Stephanie Street Power Center at Stephanie and Warm Springs in Henderson, BEST on the BOULEVARD at Maryland and Katie and BEST in the WEST Power Center at Rainbow and Lake Mead.