UPDATE: More than 200 people gathered in the parking lot of the Huntridge Center on Thursday night to watch the center's new sign light up officially for the first time.
Before the switch was flipped, the crowd enjoyed free food courtesy of two food trucks (Fuku Burger and Till It's Gone BBQ) and free beer and water from the Huntridge Tavern, who is one of the center's long-term tenants.
There were also short speeches by J Dapper, owner of the center, Mayor Pro Tem and city councilman Steve Ross, city councilman Bob Coffin, and Meredith Spriggs, who founded the homeless charity Caridad.
The new sign has a very retro feel and features the names of all the current tenants.
ORIGINAL STORY
A sign lighting event will be held Sept. 15 at the Huntridge Center.
The 62,000-square-foot shopping center located at the corner of Maryland Parkway and Charleston Boulevard was purchased late last year for $5.2 million by real estate developer J Dapper.
Dapper, who is a Las Vegas native, bought the property with the intention of nursing it back to health. Since the purchase, Dapper has demolished the old Farm Basket building, added security, trimmed palm trees that had not been trimmed in 10 years, made other landscaping improvements, fixed holes in roofs, erected a new sign, fixed sewer lines and AC units, and replaced old garbage cans.
Current tenants of the shopping center include the popular dive bar Huntridge Tavern, discount grocer Save-A-Lot, Savers thrift store, and Huntridge Pharmacy & Soda Fountain.
Dapper has also announced that Wingstop, a national chain restaurant offering chicken wings, will be moving into the shopping center.
The sign lighting event will also feature live music, tasty treats from Fukuburger and Till It's Gone BBQ, and appearances by special guests including Las Vegas city councilman Bob Coffin and Mayor Pro Tem Steve Ross.
Donations from the event will be made to Caridad, an organization striving to humanize the homeless in Downtown Las Vegas by providing customer service based street outreach.
Dapper Companies owns 15 properties in the Las Vegas area, including two other properties near the Huntridge Shopping Center. Cory Harwell, owner of downtown's Carson Kitchen and the new Standard & Pour in Henderson, is planning to open a restaurant at 602 S. Maryland Parkway and Henricksen Butler, a furniture store, will be moving from its present location at The Holsum Lofts to 630 S. 11th Street.
The sign lighting event will take place from 6 to 10 p.m. Admission is free and all are welcome.
