mong the more unusual projects in Las Vegas these days is the Southeast Operations Center being built by Jaynes Corp. for Southwest Gas Corp. in Henderson. In addition to a 58,000-sq.-ft. (5,388-sq.-m.) office/warehouse facility and a 14,000-sq.-ft. (1,300-sq.-m.) fabrication shop, it will include a mock-up training complex with 16 buildings and an open excavation area that will allow employees to learn where to dig in a realistic environment.
      There's nothing pretend about Varian Medical Systems' new $12-million, 85,000-sq.-ft. (7,897-sq.-m.) manufacturing and headquarters center in Las Vegas, which opened in late May. It will serve as headquarters for the company's Security and Inspection Products (SIP) group, which makes high-energy X-ray machines that are used for non-destructive testing and in cargo screening installations at ports and border crossings around the world.
      Built by SR Construction, the building includes four concrete test cell vaults, as well as some space devoted to the company's oncology systems department.
      Based in Palo Alto, Calif., Varian specializes in X-ray technology for industrial and medical applications. The firm moved a large portion of its operation to Las Vegas from Silicon Valley in 2002, and has since outgrown its accommodations. It now expects to double or even triple production capacity in Vegas, even as it also grows in neighboring Utah.
      "Our orders for security and inspection products are up by over 60 percent compared with last year," said Tim Guertin, Varian's CEO. "During a time of economic uncertainty, we are pleased to see our Las Vegas-based business running in high growth mode. The new factory is a tangible manifestation of our commitment to doing business in Las Vegas."       Enron once wanted to trade bandwidth the way it traded energy, and had assembled a node in southwest Las Vegas with a large number of national fiber backbones running through it. Switch Communications Inc., which got Enron's broadband services hub on the cheap in a 2002 auction, in September will have transformed that super-connected facility into the new, 407,000-sq.-ft. (37,810-sq.-m.) SuperNAP, built at a fiber interconnection point like no other in the U.S.
      Designed for 1,500-watts-per-sq.-ft. density, it will offer what Switch says is 20 fiber backbones, more than 7,000 customer server cabinets, 800 racks and 30 cooling towers. It will use heat containment and design elements learned from, among others, the casinos just down the road.
      Switch already operates six smaller data centers around Las Vegas, which it sees/sells as one of the safest spots from natural disaster in the nation. While questions about the project were referred to Switch co-founder and CEO Rob Roy, he did not respond to requests for an interview. The project has attracted the interest of Sun Microsystems and Cisco Systems, both of them Switch customers along with the military.
      In an interview with industry Web site Data Center Knowledge published in August, Roy said he had room for three more SuperNAP-sized centers on his property. He hinted in British publication The Register that investors might want the firm to roll out SuperNAPs in at least 10 other locations around the world.
      But he also told that publication that Switch's pricing can be as much as 30 percent below wholesale, largely because of the unique situation of the former Enron building. It sits on property that is part of the Beltway Business Park, managed by Thomas & Mack Development Group in partnership with Majestic Realty. Thomas & Mack also is an investor in Switch.
      The developer in June was finishing construction on three spec industrial buildings in that park, including the one occupied by Switch via a 25-year lease, according to the Las Vegas Business Press. Tenants pre-leasing at the other buildings include Graybar Electric, Interceramic and MGM Design & Development. The park now encompasses eight buildings totaling 2.2 million sq. ft. (204,380 sq. m.) of space.
      Economic research firm Restrepo Consulting Group said first-quarter 2008 figures revealed only 2.2 years worth of industrial building supply in southern Nevada. However, another Thomas & Mack project, the Northern Beltway Industrial Center in North Las Vegas, expects to have an eventual 2 million sq. ft. (185,800 sq. m.) in seven buildings when complete.
      Apex Industrial Park earlier this year sought annexation into North Las Vegas, in part to gain access to water lines. Among recent deals in the North Las Vegas area was the August lease of 141,960 sq. ft. (13,188 sq. m.) by ProLogis to Amazon.com for just over $4 million, over a five-year term.