Las Vegas Metro Development News

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Thomas & Mack Center unveils Strip View Pavilion

The Strip View Pavilion is exactly as the name indicates, the valley’s skyline opening up upon entrance into the 9,200-square foot room, with all the modern enhancements that would be expected.

It’s a room that can be expanded or condensed and houses more than 40 inside and outside speakers, a 9-by-16-foot video screen that can raised or lowered, 16 TVs and a 2,500-square foot patio.

“Everything is integrated off one touch-screen panel,” T&M multimedia director Brian Williams said. “What’s really cool is everything’s sectioned off to about 12 different audio sections. Every panel is interface-able between the Mack and here, so not only can this be an extension of the Mack, you can also cut it off and have all the technology for just in here, or you can send the technology from here to the Mack.”

The Strip View Pavilion was part of a $72.5 million upgrade to the Thomas & Mack. All 18,500 seats in the arena were replaced, a new concourse floor was put in and in some areas widened, and new portal signs were added.

The pavilion has its own escalator, which will ease congestion into the main arena, and it’s part of a two-story, 35,000-square-foot addition.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/...-view-pavilion

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New med school, football complex part of a changing UNLV, Jessup says in annual speech

The school just received a $10 million gift from the Fertitta family to build a football training facility, it's rolling out a new medical school and preparing to host the final presidential debate in October, and just today college officials were handed a victory when tourism officials voted in favor of a proposed $1.9 billion stadium that UNLV would share with the Oakland Raiders.

UNLV is also wrapping up construction on an addition to the Thomas & Mack Center, is awaiting the completion of a new hotel college building around this time next year and just welcomed its largest-ever freshman class.

"This university is going through significant change," Jessup said. "We're a very special university in a very special place."

He said UNLV was on track to finally become a "school of choice" by 2026, when his 10-year plan to achieve "elite" status will have been completely rolled out.

By then, he added, UNLV will have grown to an enrollment of around 40,000 undergrads and will have the infrastructure to compete for a slot in a Power Five athletic conference.

http://lasvegassun.com/news/2016/sep...of-a-changing/
http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/ed...issance-period

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BIG-TIME ROAD CONSTRUCTION IS COMING TO THE BUSINESSES OF THE ARTS DISTRICT

In the mid-1990s, Fourth Street was reconfigured as a one-way artery. It was a welcome change—it eased traffic on Las Vegas Boulevard and pointed tourists directly at the Fremont Street Experience. But it also did some harm: Enigma Garden Cafe, a now-defunct coffeehouse located near Fourth and Charleston, was very nearly driven out of business by the road work. Owner Julie Brewer, goaded beyond endurance by the relentless jackhammering, put a terse, hand-lettered A-frame sign in front of her business: “We are open during (de)construction.”

Today, it’s Main Street’s turn. Over the course of the next two years, Main will be transformed into a northbound one-way; one block to the west, Commerce Street is being reconfigured to one-way southbound. This is necessary work: The sewer lines are ancient, the sidewalks aren’t up to current ADA code and the traffic flow is all wrong for a Downtown that regularly hosts high-traffic events like First Friday. When finished, there will be bike lanes, improved street parking and sidewalks wide enough for art walks and outdoor seating.

http://lasvegasweekly.com/intersecti...008.1471557179

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Long-debated Grand Canyon Escalade project, with tram, hotels, will get hearing

A controversial plan to develop tourist attractions including a tram into the Grand Canyon will have its hearing before Navajo Nation lawmakers.

A Navajo Council member introduced legislation this week to approve the long-debated Grand Canyon Escalade project, complete with hotels above the Canyon rim and a tram to the Little Colorado River just upstream from its confluence with the Colorado.

The legislation also proposes $65 million in tribal development funds for roads and other needed improvements.

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/...ject/89600236/

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NFL’s Roger Goodell says ‘a lot has to happen’ for Raiders to move to Las Vegas

In comments reported by The Associated Press, Goodell addressed the potential of approving Las Vegas as an NFL city, saying, “There’s still a lot that has to happen before we would get to that stage. Recognizing that they came out of committee with a bill, but there’s still a lot of work to be done to improve that recommendation.

“Well, you never want to see a community lose their franchise once, much less twice. The Minnesota community did that in a great way. I think we can do it in Oakland. I think there’s a solution there, but it takes the community to help identify it.”

Raiders owner Mark Davis did not return a phone message Sunday. When recently asked about his plans for relocation, Davis said, “If Las Vegas comes through with what we’ve been talking about, I’m going to fight like hell to be there.”

Goodell has expressed concerns about Las Vegas and its casino and sports betting environment, but some powerful NFL owners — led by Dallas’ Jerry Jones, Los Angeles’ Stan Kroenke and New England’s Robert Kraft — have made public comments in support of Las Vegas joining the NFL.

“I just think the obvious that Las Vegas is a very attractive place,” Jones told the Review-Journal in May. “It’s a great entertainment environment, and I think that far overshadows any issue to do with gambling. We had discussions about Vegas. We had no pushback in any kinds of discussions.”

Kroenke told the Review-Journal that he and most other owners sensed “more comfort, more clarity” with the issue of legalized sports betting, and added, “I feel like Las Vegas has matured and grown a lot. I feel like Mark Davis is doing a good job of looking at his alternatives, which you have to do if you can’t get things worked out in your home market. I think Mark’s doing it the right way.”

Jones was a force in a three-way fight in January to help Kroenke relocate the Rams — the San Diego Chargers and Raiders lost their bids to become the first team back in Los Angeles — and he told the Los Angeles Times he expects enough owners would approve the Raiders’ move to Las Vegas.

“You’ll have certain individual owners with thoughts, but you won’t see people clumping together to try to stop it — not with Las Vegas in the Raiders’ case,” Jones said. “As far as I’m concerned, the Raiders are the one and only team to go (to Las Vegas). If it’s going to work, I think it’s the Raiders.”

http://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/...move-las-vegas

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Nevada needs 5 new lawmakers with special session possible

Nevada could have five new lawmakers this week as county-level leaders fill vacancies in preparation for a possible special legislative session.

The Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee recommended last week that lawmakers raise the hotel tax in the Las Vegas area to help fund an expansion of the Las Vegas Convention Center and an NFL stadium that could someday be home to the Raiders.

Gov. Brian Sandoval has said he is reviewing the recommendations, and he could call lawmakers into a special session in coming weeks. He requested last week that the handful of empty spots in the 63-seat Legislature be formally declared vacant. The terms of the new lawmakers will last only until the November election.

"There is no indication as to if or when the Governor might call a special legislative session, but we will do our part to fulfill our legal obligation to fill these seats as requested by Governor Sandoval," Washoe County Commission Chair Kitty Jung said Monday.

The Clark County Commission is meeting Wednesday morning to appoint replacements for Democratic former Assemblywoman Marilyn Kirkpatrick, who left the Legislature for a seat on the commission, and Republican former Assemblyman Erv Nelson. Nelson left his seat during an unsuccessful bid for state Senate in a nearby district.

The Washoe County Commission is meeting Thursday afternoon to appoint replacements for Republican former Sen. Greg Brower, who resigned to take a job in Washington D.C., and Democratic former state Sen. Debbie Smith. Smith died in February after a battle with cancer.

Washoe County commissioners will also name a replacement for Republican former Assemblyman Pat Hickey, who left his post for a seat on the Nevada State Board of Education.

http://lasvegassun.com/news/2016/sep...ecial-session/

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Sandoval announces he will call special session to consider Las Vegas stadium project

Gov. Brian Sandoval announced Wednesday that he plans to call a special session of the Nevada Legislature to consider funding for the proposed NFL stadium in Las Vegas. He said the session would be some time between Oct. 7 and Oct. 13.

Some state lawmakers are cheering the prospect of having the NFL’s Oakland Raiders take up residence in Las Vegas, but they’re on the sidelines on how a $1.9 billion stadium should be financed.

Others want to see the funding and oversight playbook before commenting.

“I am supportive of each project on their merits and look forward to vetting the language and policy should the Legislature be called upon to act,” said Assembly Majority Leader Paul Anderson, R-Las Vegas.

Assembly Speaker John Hambrick, R-Las Vegas, is “leaning to going forward.”

“I am on the record supporting the NFL move. I did a video and wrote a letter to Mark Davis urging him to come to Las Vegas,” Hambrick said of the Raiders owner. “It would be great for our economy.”

Assemblyman Derek Armstrong, R-Henderson, believes the stadium and convention center upgrades would help Las Vegas retain its standing as a world-class tourism and convention destination

“I think it is absolutely necessary for us to do the convention center expansion to remain ahead of the curve and we don’t lose bigger events to other cities,” said Armstrong, chairman of the Assembly Taxation Committee.

He said the domed football stadium, which could be home to the UNLV Rebels as well as the Raiders, would be an economic development tool.

“We don’t have an arena that offers 40,000 seats,” he said, noting the National Finals Rodeo was looking at other cities before deciding to remain in Las Vegas. But Armstrong and others questioned whether UNLV should be charged to use the stadium, as is proposed, if public money is used to build it.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/busines...tadium-project

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• Video Link

Sandoval will meet with legislative leaders on Las Vegas stadium proposal

Gov. Brian Sandoval will meet with legislative leaders next week in preparation for a special session of the Legislature to consider room tax increases to fund an NFL stadium for the Oakland Raiders and improve the Las Vegas Convention Center.

The two-term Republican governor, speaking Thursday with the Review-Journal, said he’s convinced the projects present an opportunity for Nevada to accentuate its standing as a global entertainment, convention and tourism destination.

The governor met with Raiders owner Mark Davis on Tuesday at his office in Carson City, where the two spoke for about 90 minutes.


“Prior to calling a special session it was important for me to meet with him eye-to-eye and ask him specifically his intent with regard to the Raiders coming to Las Vegas if this were to be approved,” Sandoval said.

“I believe he is resolute in his intent to bring the Raiders to Las Vegas,” the governor said.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/ne...adium-proposal

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Investment group offers to buy Oakland Coliseum to keep Raiders from moving

The city of Oakland and an investment group tied to Hall of Fame safety Ronnie Lott engaged in negotiations geared toward selling the Oakland Coliseum and keeping the Raiders from bolting for Los Angeles or Las Vegas.

According to the East Bay Times, Stadium Real Estate Partners and The Integral Group made an informal offer to buy the Coliseum and the surrounding land for $167.3 million. The goal would be renovating the stadium or building a “state-of-the-art” facility to entice the Raiders to resist moving to Las Vegas or Los Angeles.

A 90-day memorandum of understanding allows the investment group a brief window to work out short- and long-term details.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said on Sept. 18 that “a lot has to happen” for the Raiders to be granted approval to relocate to Las Vegas.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/...raiders-moving

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Las Vegas should better prepare for rise in tourism, travel official says

Las Vegas needs to better prepare for a projected increase in tourists, particularly from China, the head of the U.S. Travel Association said Thursday.

“Chinese travel to the U.S. is unstoppable … and they want to come to Las Vegas,” Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, said at an event at the Tropicana.

According to a report this year by the Pacific Asia Travel Association, nearly 5 million Chinese travelers will visit the United States each year by 2020, with an annual growth rate of about 13 percent during the next five years, outpacing both visitors from Japan and the UK.

Speaking to a crowd of 50 at a local chapter event of Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International, Dow said Las Vegas can prepare for increased tourism in general by expanding the Las Vegas Convention Center and investing in infrastructure that will transport more travelers.

Expanding the convention center would maintain the progress Las Vegas has made in diversifying the local economy away from gaming, he said.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/busines...-official-says

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Hockey team announces 20-year lease for Summerlin practice facility

Las Vegas’ first major professional sports franchise will have a 20-year ground lease for its practice facility in Summerlin, it was announced today.

The two-rink practice facility that will be an important home base for the still-unnamed hockey team that begins play next season is set for an official groundbreaking later this month. It’s expected to be completed by August 2017, according to team owner Bill Foley’s Black Knight Sports & Entertainment, LLC and the Howard Hughes Corporation, which is developing the 4.6-acre land parcel just east of Pavilion Center Drive and south of Griffith Peak Drive.

The facility is expected to be completed about two months before the team will play its first game at T-Mobile Arena on the Strip.

http://lasvegassun.com/news/2016/sep...for-summerlin/

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Developer asking $30M an acre for site on Strip

When developer Triple Five bought a five-acre slice of the Strip last decade, just before the economy crashed, it paid a sum landowners could only dream of today.

And now, that’s exactly what it’s shooting for.

The company wants $30 million per acre for a mostly vacant parcel on the north Strip between the Peppermill restaurant and where the recently imploded Riviera stood, according to a sign out front.

The total price tag: more than $160 million.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/busines...cre-site-strip

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Cowboys owner Jones urges aggressiveness in bringing Raiders to Las Vegas

“It’s very important for the (development) team to be very aggressive,” Jones said. “It’s not hard to look at precedent and the history of the NFL and you don’t see any real movement if you are waiting on the league to initiate an effort to relocate a team.

“The league would be reluctant to really push to leave a market and all of the inertia is done by virtue of the team creating the opportunity or creating a better place for the NFL,” he said.

“In order for that to happen, you have to have several things coming together at the same time for a relocation. You have that right now in Las Vegas. You have to have very creditable people involved. In this particular case, you have outstanding people in Nevada and in Las Vegas representing what in my view is one of the crown jewels of our country, and that’s Las Vegas. On the other side, you have a team with portability, the ability to move. Those two coming together — three if you include the attractiveness of Las Vegas and Nevada — those three coming together is what I refer to as getting it in the cross hairs.”

“When you look at the history of the NFL, very few times do those situations get in the cross hairs of a decision and when you miss it, it’s usually gone for not only years and years — maybe even as much as 20 years as in the case of Los Angeles — but it could be gone forever,” Jones said.

“I’ve said that Las Vegas is a major treasure to our country and I’m into that kind of stuff because I think one and one is three,” Jones said. “Las Vegas has a wow factor and certainly the Raiders have an aura and a mystique and a national presence.”

“The very thing that is positive about the future of Las Vegas and Nevada is enhanced dramatically by bringing and including an NFL team in that future,” Jones said. “There’s no doubt in my mind. The No. 1 thing (for Las Vegas) is the visibility that is afforded an NFL city.”

http://www.reviewjournal.com/busines...ders-las-vegas

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Developer betting big on Las Vegas’ urban core

With developers packing the Las Vegas suburbs with new apartments, Jonathan Fore is laying a big bet in another part of town: the urban core.

The managing partner of Fore Property Co. held a ceremonial groundbreaking Monday for his 295-unit luxury rental project at Spring Mountain Road and Valley View Boulevard, a mile west of the Strip.

He said he expects to finish the $52 million development in March 2018.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/busines...gas-urban-core

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New F1 owner wants Las Vegas and Miami as potential future race venues

Maffei told Fox Sports that his primary targets for new races are in F1’s most under-served markets:

“The obvious optionality case is to some degree Asia in the short term, potentially Latin America, and longer term North America, and particularly the U.S., where we really are well under-viewed, under-monetized, under-everything. I don’t think that gets solved in a week, but I think that’s an interesting long-term opportunity.”

Expanding on the US angle, he said: “You think about places where it would have natural appeal I would argue Miami, Las Vegas are very interesting places for the long term. But that isn’t going to get solved in a week. I’d like to hope that being Americans – Chase, Liberty – that we can help with that process. I don’t think as I said this is a quick fix, but for the longer term it’s a large, untapped market with upsides.”

http://www.thisisf1.com/2016/09/24/n...sEj1UF2qDky.99

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Investment group yanks $167.3 million bid to buy Raiders coliseum site after Oakland gives cold shoulder

A real estate group comprised of investors and developers that had crafted a $167.3 million bid to keep the Oakland Raiders in the Bay Area by buying the land on which the current Coliseum sits has now retracted its offer.

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfranci...land-lott.html

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Nevada State Railroad Museum full steam ahead to expand visitors center

The Nevada State Railroad Museum in Boulder City got the green light Tuesday to begin planning an expansion of its visitors center with funding approved by the Legislature’s Interim Finance Committee.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/la...isitors-center

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IMAX films futuristic Hyperloop in North Las Vegas for movie about engineers

IMAX moviemakers are filming the futuristic Hyperloop under construction in North Las Vegas.

The revolutionary Hyperloop is designed to transport people and cargo in tube cars at a potential 760 mph — faster than commercial jets — using solar-powered electromagnetic motors.

Futurism supergenius Elon Musk launched Hyperloop with engineers from SpaceX and Tesla. The first successful use of its test tubes came in May. The company hopes to build a full line for cargo by 2019 and for passengers by 2021.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/opinion...as-movie-about

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Las Vegas art museum a step closer to reality

Representatives of the city of Las Vegas said last week the city will set aside up to 1.5 acres of city-owned land to be donated for The Art Museum at Symphony Park, fulfilling an agreement signed with backers last year to provide a location if the group raised a million dollars. The museum’s supporters surpassed that target last month, raising more than twice that amount.

“I’m so very excited about the burgeoning community support for a world-class art museum at Symphony Park,” Mayor Carolyn Goodman said. “We will continue to work with the backers and leadership on this project.”

http://www.reviewjournal.com/neon/ar...closer-reality

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Proponents cheer stadium at event that draws Raiders great Howie Long

Long told the crowd that when the Legislature meets to consider the package for the 65,000-seat domed football stadium it could become a part of history that the Raiders are attempting to make on the field this season. Long said the Raiders, who are now 3-1 with three road victories, invited him to address the team prior to the beginning of the season.

“As I told them this summer, it’s time for (players) Derek Carr, Khalil Mack, for (head coach) Jack Del Rio, for (general manager) Reggie McKenzie, for (owner) Mark Davis and now for the city of Las Vegas potentially to make their own history. It’s hard to put history in perspective when it’s happening and this, to me, is a win-win, it’s a no-brainer.

The proposal to put both the stadium financing and the financing of a $1.4 billion convention center expansion project into one legislative bill puts a new wrinkle in the debate. The convention center expansion, also recommended for approval by the Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee, appears to have solid backing by legislators. Packaging the projects together could either bolster support for the stadium by convention center backers or torpedo both projects.

Former Las Vegas Mayor Jan Jones Blackhurst, a Caesars Entertainment executive and a leader in the new Win Win Nevada Coalition of gaming, business and community leaders supporting the stadium, noted that jets departing from McCarran International Airport are filled with tourists visiting the city and more would come with the addition of the stadium.

Other speakers supporting the stadium effort included Steve Hill, director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development and the chairman of the Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee that delivered the recommendation for the stadium to Gov. Brian Sandoval; Clark County Commissioner Lawrence Weekly, who chairs the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority board of directors; Tommy White of Laborers International Union Local 872, a supporter of the stadium project; and UNLV head football coach Tony Sanchez.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/busines...eat-howie-long