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Thursday, Aug. 11, 2011 | 2 a.m.
Sun archives
- Proposal for south Strip arena hinges on securing financing (5-18-2011)
- Texan closer to bringing arena complex to Las Vegas, signs contract for 51s (5-6-2011)
- Just build it already: Why Las Vegas can’t land a pro sports team (4-18-2011)
- Proposal emerges to build three-stadium complex in downtown Las Vegas (2-8-2011)
- UNLV athletic department sees on-campus stadium as a game-changer (2-1-11)
- Developers put early plans for UNLV stadium, retail district on display (2-1-11)
- Regents to hear UNLV arena plan for football, basketball (1-31-11)
- Mayor: UNLV domed stadium wouldn’t conflict with a downtown Las Vegas arena (1-27-2011)
- Report: UNLV domed stadium plans will be unveiled Tuesday (1-27-2011)
- Goodman: Arena project a key issue for next Las Vegas mayor (1-20-2011)
- UNLV acknowledges effort to bring stadium, football to campus (1-19-2011)
- Mayor: Sports arena ballot petition 'irrelevant' to city arena efforts (11-18-2010)
- Symphony Park targeted for sports arena (11-12-2010)
- Mayor: American League team says no to Las Vegas (8-26-2010)
- Mayor: Without public funding for arena, Las Vegas won't get NBA team (7-22-2010)
- Strip sports arena has very little support (6-10-2010)
- MGM Mirage opposes arena options seeking public financing (5-18-2010)
- County wants arena details, says public money unlikely (4-6-2010)
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Then one more time?
Would-be arena developer Chris Milam, who has failed to get deals done in Las Vegas and unincorporated Clark County, is now courting Henderson officials in an effort to build a $2 billion stadium complex near the M Resort, sources familiar with the discussion have told the Sun.
Henderson officials have signed confidentiality agreements, sources said, and are keeping quiet about the talks over worries that word of a lengthy construction project might draw opposition from residents near the proposed arena site.
Even so, one source who spoke on the condition of anonymity described the project as “a done deal.”
Another source said it would be financed by Goldman Sachs and another unnamed investment bank.
Milam did not return a call for comment. But at last week’s meeting of the Henderson Chamber of Commerce, Henderson Mayor Andy Hafen said he had a couple of “big announcements” coming that would employ a lot of people.
In May, Milam reportedly planned a $1.95 billion sports complex west of Mandalay Bay to be financed by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. That proposal included a special tax district on the 63-acre site to allow sales taxes generated there to help pay off the bond.
In the Henderson deal, sources said, city officials intend to “gift” investors the land for the sports complex. That gift, sources say, may eliminate the need for a special taxing district to pay off the construction bond.
Milam has provided as much as $200,000 in earnest money to the city, sources also said, in an effort to demonstrate the seriousness of his intentions.
Few details about the stadium were available, except:
• It would be large enough to hold professional baseball and/or soccer games;
• Because of the high interest in soccer in Southern Nevada and Henderson’s desire to provide soccer fields to the public, the stadium would be made available to the thousands of families — one source said 3,500 families in Henderson participate in soccer — who travel with their children to soccer practices and games throughout the valley.
Milam has pursued various stadium and arena projects in Clark County, including at the site of the former Wet ’n Wild water park adjacent to the Sahara, on land in downtown Las Vegas and this year near Mandalay Bay. Though none of those proposals went anywhere, Milam has a successful development background.
In the 1990s, he arranged financing for high-rise projects in Eastern Europe. He is credited with developing the 700,000-square-foot Warsaw Financial Center, the 600,000-square-foot Moscow Corporate Center and the 120,000-square-foot Sony Center in Budapest.
In Texas, he developed a suburban-Austin mall in the early 2000s. Then in 2007 came his proposal to build the Las Vegas Towers at the site of Wet ’n Wild. When that plan dissolved, Milam’s first arena project came to light when he began talks to build the Silver State Arena on the same site.
With the markets in turmoil it will be interesting to see if Goldman Sachs will in fact come up with the financing. The M was supposed to work with one of the big shopping center developers to put up a high end shopping mall near them. That fell through due to the economy and the bankruptcy of several large shopping center developers. I doubt if this guy will have the financing he needs in this market.
Look, everybody! 200,000 US Dollars! It's all yours! Just put your taxpayers on the hook for 2,000,000,000 US Dollars!
"In the Henderson deal, sources said, city officials intend to "gift" investors the land for the sports complex. That gift, sources say, may eliminate the need for a special taxing district to pay off the construction bond."
An then of course, it may not.
Instead of playing the sucker on this, the public should require that a single site or maybe two sites should be selected by the state for the sports complex and then the developers should be allowed to submit proposals to develop the site (costs of the evaluation of projects would be borne by the developers through an application fee).
This way we play the developers off each other instead of the having the developers play us for suckers.
$200,000 to show how ernest he is on a $2 billion project. How about 20%?
Sports played at the new arena will include Charlie Brown kicking the football, really.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hq0nH5v8x...
Now the Traffic you have with the NASCAR track in the North can be duplicated in the South on a weekly basis. An Arena without an infastucture build in congested Henderson. What could possibly go wrong?
Love how people has to moan & complain over everything. This is what this city needs to move forward. Your right the increase in profits for the area, the increase in jobs, the increase in people coming to Vegas is a horrible horrible choice right now. Stupid investors for thinking ahead!
Yea baby, my back yard. Now I know why St Rose Pkwy was over built. I'm not afraid of a use tax even though I'll be there using it often.
I say this is absolutey great for Henderson and Vegas will probably reap more. It is really time for something like this. I think it is a good area as well. Maybe ol' Oscar might endorse this and broadcast it world wide. If this goes, jobs for Nevadan's first.
Good for Mr. Milam, hope he pulls this off as long as it does not involved public money.
No matter where he builds someone is going to complain but this is much better then being center strip.
This will help the southern area a lot and if he really builds it you will see other things being built in that area.
"This way we play the developers off each other instead of the having the developers play us for suckers."
Brilliant - I agree
I hope it succeeds but it worries me that they want to build it big enough for baseball and/or soccer.
The first sport Las Vegas/Henderson/Southern Nevada should bring in is the NBA.
Forget the All-Star game fiasco. That "crowd" travels only to the All-Star game and many sportswriters have noted this before.
http://3.7mustang.com/vb/f19/news-jason-...
"This was not a byproduct of the game being held in Vegas. All-Star Weekend has been on this path for the past five or six years. Every year the event becomes more and more a destination for troublemakers."
You won't get that crowd every home game. Period.
This is a basketball town. Build a stadium for NBA/NHL and bring the NBA in first, then the NHL.
Whatever professional sports team comes to Vegas first has to be a financial success in attendance & revenue or the other leagues will say "Vegas had one pro-franchise and it flopped, why should I invest there?"
NBA Basketball is what should come first, then the NHL since the building will already be built.
I wish this project luck, but it would be better if it were designed for an NBA/NHL combo and it should be closer to the Strip.
Building a stadium for a MLB/MLS team is a bad idea. It really, really, really won't work.
MLB has too many games and if the team isn't winning then good luck keeping the books in the black. MLS is still on the fringe in my opinion. If you want to use your money to be a pioneer for soccer, then be my guest.
I wish the Maloofs would move the Kings to Vegas, but for some reason they do not. I think "The Las Vegas Kings" has a good ring to it. Name the NHL team "The Las Vegas Aces" and you're marketing department has it made.
My two cents, take it with a grain of salt. Good luck to this project if it goes through.
Make that "your" on the end there... I love typing in the morning... :-D
I love it. Las Vegas (the city) and Clark County both snubbed Milam and now he's doing it in Henderson, of course. Good for you Henderson for realizing this guy is motivated to do something and has the resources to do it. Vegas and Clark County were too worried about making sure their guys blocked it because they wanted their guys in on it. That way they can all get a piece of the action. As much as I wouldn't like traveling that far to events, I really do hope it happens. Vegas and Clark County - you guys are all fools.
This deal is not going to happen unless the residents of Henderson approve such a deal. There are a lot of implications involving traffic and infrastructure. Who is going to pay for all the improvements. I doubt if Goldman Sachs is just going to hand over money to this guy for such a project. Those guys are tough cookies. Why should Henderson just hand over land to some developer. The investment syndicate should pay for it like everybody else.
Why does Henderson need to 'gift' them the land. How about a 100 year lease - so that when the developer mortgages the project to the hilt and then declares bankruptcy, the City will at least still own the land.
I agree with Vegaslee that building south of the Strip will not only help avoid the congestion and traffic of the Strip, but it will likely spur other investment and growth in the area around the new stadium. I'm sure the owners of the M resort would be thrilled to have it located nearby.
This sounds like a certain win for Henderson and for all of Clark County.
This is great for the valley! It should not matter one bit that is would be built in Henderson. I was worried about Baseball or Basketball stadiums being built so close to the strip. It would turn into a tourist spot with over priced concessions, tickets and parking. For most of who live here, driving in or around the strip is a pain and avoided. Not to mention if we got an MLB, NHL or NBA team it would be our team. Not a bunch of tourists from China who wanted to see a NBA game filling the seats.
For all you nay sayers who worry about traffic, taxes and what happened at one NBA all star game as your excuse of why not have professional sports in Las Vegas, either move to a small town or don't use the facilities.
Vegas should be a world class city with professional sports and facilities. Tons of money is used building billion dollar hotels, super sized Ferris Wheels, restaurants we cant afford are nice but they are built for the tourist it is time something is build for the people who live here.
To the Henderson Mayor and City Council, please see this through. To Oscar Goodman, get on board with this plan. It may not be where you want it, but for the good of the entire valley this is great for Vegas. If you are with the LVCVA this is a win for them. Remember, every team that comes to play our teams would have fans coming to Vegas to see their team.
You guys realize that the housing developments north of St Rose Blvd are part of Las Vegas right? So the people most affected by the traffic won't even have a say in it. Although, St Rose is one of the widest streets in the city and there's room to widen it even more if need be. It has outlets to both the 215 and the I-15 so it's actually an ideal place to put a stadium.
I personally think the city needs some big projects to help with the economic slump we're in. The way to work our way out of a recession is to invest in education and infrastructure. At least this satisfies one of those..
"Stupid investors for thinking ahead!" - Having forward-thinking ideas is great. Implementing any such ideas in a hurry is not so great. This town rushes into everything without thinking. That's what 2-year-olds do.
"as long as it does not involved public money" - Is this just naive, wishful thinking? Of course it's going to involve public money. These things always end up involving public money. (For instance, Nevada State College was going to be entirely publicly funded up front. Never happened. I'm sure there are a host of other examples.) And since neither the public nor the investors will think ahead (see above), you can guarantee it will end up involving public money.
David Stern is SCARED of Las Vegas. There is NO CHANCE an NBA team is moving here. None at all!
The town's economic state isn't even that good anyways.
It would be great if they added several lighted artificial turf fields for multi-purpose use, including football, baseball, lacrosse, for Henderson and Vegas sports teams desperate for practice and playing space. They could then host national/international tournaments and turn Henderson into a youth sports tourism/destination place.
Oscar Goodman's going to sh1t a bird if the city of Henderson gets their sports arena before Las Vegas does!
oh good, we're raising taxes on everyone to pay for things we don't need.
Have you heard of priorities?
This is also corporate welfare which is unconstitutional in Nevada.
'and are keeping quiet about the talks over worries that word of a lengthy construction project might draw opposition from residents near the proposed arena site.'
In other words, they want to keep it a secret till it's done. More fodder for the local shyster lawyers.
They should get a commitment from a pro team before they get too far along with this.
This will work, in fact it is a great idea! Keep the two most boring sports, baseball and "football", as far away from the majority of the population.
Soccer & Baseball? Good luck with that. Of course there is no 20% down or any actual investment going on... It's the Vegas way.
This country will never learn it's lesson. Frankly I am boycotting it on the grounds of being financed by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley alone.
I think it's great and love the location much more than anything near the Strip. Everyone can whine about a new stadium/arena but the area desperately needs one and it will certainly get used for all sorts of things.
Hope this is the project that finally works. Good persistence, Mr. Milam!
Multi purpose stadiums have gone the way of the Edsel, the typewriter and the VCR. You either build a stadium suited to one sport or don't build. Name me one single multi purpose stadium built for baseball and another sport. There are none.
@Teaser
Being against something for the simple reason that it MAY include future problems is neither constructive or rational. Of course there are downsides to the project, but proper decision making requires comparison of those downsides to the potential upsides. There is not enough information out there to make a good decision on the project, but it seems like there are definitely a lot of potential benefits to it.
They signed an agreement to be quiet about it? Whats up with that?
Come on everyone start looking at the plus side. The biggest complaint in the sports world is their facilities. Cities that have seen the light in baseball such as Cleveland,Baltimore,Seattle,Detroit and more all have newer stadiums. The cities which have old ones are in chance of loosing their teams. The economic impact on businesses and taxes collected from sporting events concerts and etc is amazing. Just think a great source of revenue a clean industry. Las Vegas needs to grab this opportunity and YES! the investor is going to make money that is why he is proposing this. But everyone is a win win in this case. The economic impact is something all of Vegas will benefit. A professional team or more than one would also instill more pride in the city and it's residents. So please keep an open mind to this.
I'm in the NBA and hockey camps unless this is a fully covered facility with very good A/C. I would also want to see such an enclosed stadium take full advantage of solar for power requirements when possible.
I just don't see any outdoor sport drawing the crowds needed.
Barry ragan,
That is nonsense. Taxpayer funded stadiums are hudge boondoggles, costing taxpayers and the local economy far more in damages than any advantages.
Economists may disagree on whether cutting taxes or raising spending is good or bad in a recession but they almost ALWAYS agree that taxpayer funded stadiums are a net loss for cities and taxpayers alike.
The last true indoor stadium is Tropicana Field in Tampa, considered the worst of the worst.
Either do a retractable roof like Phoenix or nothing at all. An indoor stadium for baseball will fail within 3 years. They don't even consider building them anymore.
Either embrace the Las Vegas heat or not. If not, not sure why you are living here.
Patrick_R_Gibbons,
Take a moment and read the article. There is nothing stated in this article of taxes to pay for this one.
The City of Henderson is planning on giving them some land they are not using to make up for the need of a tax district.
This would be great! It will add jobs, bring people to Las Vegas and surrounding areas. Soccer is ALL the rage right now. Getting more kids involved in this sport teaches them how to be a part of team and keeps them out of trouble.
Last time I was out near the M Resort I noticed newly constructed 6 lanes of travel and it's also close to I-15 on ramps. It's a great place to put the stadium.
Anyone wanna bet that in the fine print, taxpayers will be on the hook for more than just a land donation.
I agree with Patrick Gibbons, taxpayer funded stadiums are a BAD investment.
BTW, Barry, stadiums did not save Cleveland, Detroit and Baltimore. Seattle never needed saving! What are you smoking?
Detroit, for one, is definitely still a hole. The only thing that will save it is to figure out a way to get the current locals out of there.
The only good developer uses investors money and that is the way it is.
Chris Milam again!!!
Details are sketchy, but I would hope the developer doesn't get 'free' land. I would rather it is leased for 20 years for a nominal amount of 0.01% of total revenue and the City of Henderson retains ownership.
Hopefully the city is protected from cost over runs and/or costs of maintaining or removing the structure at the end of the lease.
All I will say is when any developer utters the words 'it won't cost the taxpayer any money' is go see the monorail. Litigation costs to defend cases against bond holders and a reserve fund to dismantle the monorail have cost tax payers a pretty penny.
If it's too good to be true....
A stadium without proper infrastructure means taxpayers will end up getting hooked into paying for those improvements.
And a stadium without a roof in Vegas? Thanks but no thanks. Not even remotely interested.
But that being said Vegas could use Pro Sports and a Stadium. But sticking it out in Henderson is not the best place for it. It belongs somewhere along the strip where there's infrastructure to support it. My hunch...this will turn into Monorail II and not live up to it's potential if the idea even gets off the ground.
These stadium projects are ALWAYS about getting YOU the taxpayer to transfer your money over to the developer's pockets. This is the tried and true scam and is the big dollar sign in the eyes of all these successive, incessant hustles. Each developer's eyes are wide with lust, looking at Las Vegas. We've resisted the temptation to have a major league stadium scammed upon us, so far. But to the developers, that just makes us fresh meat. Each thinks HE'll be the one to deflower innocent Las Vegas. Woo us with baldfaced lies about "no public money will be used," buy off the local politicians (which is so easy to do in this town), use other people's money, pull out all your profits up front, and then brag to all your investor buds about your latest conquest. Meanwhile, Las Vegas will be left with the bastard child and huge, multi-decade costs to deal with.
Some of the gullible posters around here are such easy, cheap dates.