Henderson to hear proposal for stadium complex near M Resort

By Conor Shine

Thursday, Sept. 1, 2011 | 2 a.m.

Plans for a proposed multiple-stadium sports complex near M Resort are scheduled to be unveiled Tuesday at the Henderson City Council meeting.

The proposed complex, which has a reported price tag of $2 billion, would be situated on federal land east of Interstate 15, just south of M Resort.

The project would be developed by the Las Vegas National Sports Complex LLC and led by Christopher Milam.

A request for comment from the company Wednesday wasn’t returned.

At this point, Henderson’s involvement in the project is only supporting the developer’s application to purchase federal land through a direct sale.

City spokesman Bud Cranor described the item before the City Council on Tuesday as the first in a series of agreements.

If the land purchase application is approved, the company would need to perform feasibility studies before the sale were to go through, Cranor said.

“There’s quite a bit of work on (the developer’s end), which they’ll have to do,” he said. “It’s not even close (to a done deal).”

The project would involve four stadiums at the site built in two phases, according to city documents.

It would create 10,000 construction jobs and 4,000 permanent service and management jobs, according to the document.

The project would be privately financed, although there is an opportunity to use tax increment financing districts or other tools to help with the costs, Cranor said. He emphasized that taxes would not be raised on Henderson residents as a result of the project.

Director of Utility Services Dennis Porter said the terms of the initial agreement are still being finalized, and there is a slight chance the presentation could be moved to a future City Council meeting.

The timetable for the project is still unclear, but Porter said if financing is secured and all the technical hurdles are cleared, construction could begin as early as next summer.