City to fund study on baseball team

Diana Sahagun

Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2001 | 11:10 a.m.

Las Vegas will pay for a study to find out whether a major or minor league baseball team would succeed in Southern Nevada as part of its initial development agreement for 61 acres of prime downtown real estate.

The study is part of an exclusive negotiating agreement with Southwest Sports Group that is expected to be approved by the City Council on Wednesday. In the contract, the city agrees to pay $500,000 for the study and other development costs.

Southwest Sports was chosen two months ago as the master developer for the city-owned parcel, the centerpiece of a barren swath of land formerly occupied by Union Pacific Railroad that the city considers key to downtown redevelopment.

The council, following a consultant's recommendation, has pegged the site for an academic medical campus, high-density residential development and a performing arts center.

Since July, when Southwest Sports was chosen as the master developer, representatives have been pushing the idea of building a minor-league stadium to house the Las Vegas 51s, a Triple-A baseball team affiliated with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In the agreement, Southwest Sports says it will act as the master developer for the entire 61 acres, whether or not the company is allowed to build a stadium.

Mayor Oscar Goodman has said he would approve a stadium as part of the 61-acre development only if it houses a major-league team and comes at no cost to taxpayers.

The $500,000 will come from an industrial revenue fund supported by the sale of city-owned property in a technology center at Smoke Ranch Road and Buffalo Drive, said Lesa Coder, city business development director.

The city will pay for the feasibility study within two months to determine the market for a major-league baseball team or Triple-A baseball team, the agreement says. The study, which will be conducted by a consultant chosen by both the city and Southwest Sports, will also address the feasibility of constructing a stadium without public funding -- or, in the event public funding is necessary, how much would be needed.

If the council approves the exclusive agreement, Southwest Sports will have six months to carve out a development agreement that will spell out what will be built on the 61 acres.

The final development agreement will also include a plan for land use, a marketing plan, estimated land costs and time lines for development.

The developers also will have to disclose their plans for financing the project and whether any public funding will be needed, according to the negotiating agreement.

At the end of six months, the council will either accept the plan and begin the construction planning phase, or start over from scratch with a new developer.

Southwest Sports is a Dallas-based sports and entertainment company that owns the Texas Rangers, the Dallas Stars and a television station. The company is working in conjunction with Mandalay Sports Entertainment, which owns the Las Vegas 51s and other companies.

Richard Rees, vice president of real estate for Southwest Sports, did not return calls seeking comment.

But Don Logan, president and general manager of the Las Vegas 51s and a point man between the city and the developers, said he has spoken with Rees in the past several days and that the company is satisfied with the negotiating agreement.

"(Rees) said he was comfortable that they'd had good dialogue and everyone was singing from the same sheet of music," Logan said.

Coder shared Logan's sentiments, calling the vote expected Wednesday a giant step forward.

"The first step is always the hardest, so in those terms it's significant," she said. "But the next step will be even more significant, because it's an actual, binding agreement."

If the agreement is approved, Logan plans to step up his efforts to encourage Goodman to buy into the benefits of a downtown minor-league stadium.

While he understands Goodman's push for a major-league team, he said that prospect is years away.

"At some point it's going to happen, but it's probably a good decade away," Logan said. "Nobody wants to say that, but you have to call it like you see it."