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Courtesy UNLV Now
Renderings of a proposed stadium on the UNLV campus.
Published Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2011 | 2 a.m.
Updated Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2011 | 1:23 p.m.
Proposed project location
Sun archives
- Developers continue push for UNLV stadium, retail district (6-28-2011)
- Developers put early plans for UNLV stadium, retail district on display (2-1-2011)
- Regents to hear UNLV arena plan for football, basketball (1-31-2011)
- 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)
The public-private partners behind a proposed on-campus stadium at UNLV say they are developing a plan to build it without raising taxes.
Since the Legislature this year rejected a special tax district to fund the $2 billion stadium/dormitory/retail project, university administrators and Majestic Realty Co. have been working on a financial formula and other changes to allow the project to move forward.
Craig Cavileer, president of Silverton resort and Majestic’s representative on the project, said one idea is for UNLV to issue but not underwrite bonds to pay for construction, allowing the university to avoid liability should the project fail and investors sue. Another idea is for Majestic to fund the project.
Regardless of the source of financing, the stadium would be built on public land — west of the Thomas & Mack Center on space now used for parking — eliminating the need to pay hefty property taxes and seek a special state exemption from the tax.
Majestic Realty would lease the land from UNLV, and the two entities would split the profits 50-50, Cavileer said.
Changes to the project include:
• Building a 60,000-seat open-air stadium instead of a 40,000-seat domed stadium;
• Renovating the Thomas & Mack Center and building a promenade of retail establishments between the basketball arena and the stadium.
• Constructing 3,000 to 5,000 units of student housing.
“This project will not only bring football back to campus, but will create a true university campus lifestyle,” Cavileer said.
UNLV Athletic Director Jim Livengood said the project would be a “game-changer” not just for athletics but for the university as a whole.
“Without trying to get glossy, this changes the perception of the campus,” Livengood said. “We’re now perceived as a commuter school. This turns us into absolutely a residential campus. That’s how big a deal this is.”
Majestic Realty is the developer behind Los Angeles’ Staples Center, as well as part-owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Kings.
Since 2007, the Las Vegas Valley has seen a number of stadium proposals come and go.
A sense of urgency over getting a state-of-the-art facility built has grown since completion in 2009 of the $1.2 billion stadium for the Dallas Cowboys. Its owner, Jerry Jones, has reportedly expressed interest in getting the National Finals Rodeo, a huge December event for Las Vegas, to move to his facility. If the UNLV project gets built, the rodeo would remain at the renovated Thomas & Mack.
“We believe that for NFR the (Thomas & Mack) provides for a great experience as is, and will only be better with the planned enhancements,” Cavileer said, adding that changes to the arena aren’t yet finalized.
During this year’s legislative session, a handful of would-be arena developers sought approval for taxing districts to pay for their projects. When the Legislature said “forget it,” most plans disappeared.
Behind the scenes, UNLV and Majestic kept working.
Its proposal and one other — on federal land in Henderson — appear to be the two left in the game. Last week, the Henderson City Council unanimously approved an agreement allowing a developer to do a feasibility and design study for a multibillion-dollar, multiphased project on 485 acres south of the Strip, near M Resort. Costing $1.3 billion, the first phase would include a 17,500-seat arena and 25,000-seat open-air stadium.
The Majestic project could have an edge because it is closer to the Strip while not being tied financially to a Strip casino. Casino representatives have been at odds over various proposals, arguing that any public funding for an arena or stadium associated with a casino would be unfair to competing properties.
Majestic executives said pro sports franchises could be future tenants of the facility. An NFL team isn’t part of the plan, Cavileer said, but it is well-known that Major League Soccer is interested in Las Vegas. And the National Hockey League might be interested and the National Basketball Association has “from time to time” expressed interest, he said. He also said the NFL’s Pro Bowl, traditionally held in Hawaii, might be a good fit.
Plans changed from the enclosed stadium, which could have only accommodated 40,000 seats, to the larger stadium because the smaller venue would “not work well as UNLV athletics grows nor does it work well to attract those events and teams to Las Vegas which are important” to tourism, Cavileer added
“This is an ambitious project and the university is, in our mind, the best recipient of that energy,” Cavileer said.
If the Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents agrees to an exclusive negotiating agreement with Majestic in December, Cavileer said construction could begin within 18 to 24 months and be complete about two years later.
Livengood said having an on-campus stadium with thousands of students living nearby could one day create a “buzz” similar to that felt in Madison, Wis., where UNLV’s football team played this month.
“You don’t even have to go to the game there, it’s just a great college atmosphere all around. That’s what could happen here,” he said. The project would signal “that we’re really serious about our university, because this isn’t just for athletics, this is for everybody.”
"Without trying to get glossy, this changes the perception of the campus," Livengood said. "We're now perceived as a commuter school. This turns us into absolutely a residential campus. That's how big a deal this is."
Exactly. That's a huge game changer for the university. Both for athletics and academics. Plus its huge for the city in an attempt to keep and attract new events like NFR.
Also, I'm happy to see they are going to keep the T&M as the basketball arena.
REALLY HOPE THIS GETS DONE. I bet it will also galvanize UNLV alumni like me to get more involved and donate.
Finally a concept that makes sense. Putting this on campus is the best way to go. Adding residences does take down the perception that UNLV is just a commuter school. I just wonder about financing and such. Let's see what happens...
If they can build it w/o ANY taxpayer money, more power to them.
Remember the MONORAIL!
The ability to get this done without tax dollars, if that indeed is reality, woould be huge.
Also think it was a no-brainer to increase the seating for the stadium, though it'd still be better if it had one of those retractable-dome guys.
The village and dorm aspect would be great for the university. There's very little "campus life" as it is. Would be nice.
They paved Paradise and put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique, and a swingin' hot spot.
They took all the trees, and put em in a tree museum
And they charged the people a dollar and a half to see them.
Don't it always seem to go,
That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone
They paved Paradise and put up a parking lot.
No matter what UNLV does to Sam Boyd (i.e. finally covering the dirt lots, with anything...) this proposal is the only thing that can save UNLV Football. If you build it, they will come. Fans, recruits, big name opponents, construction jobs.
Build this, and build it now!!!
I all for just an open air stadium on campus. I'm not a big fan of the original plan for the stadium that they purposed. Keep the basketball team in the T&M and just give it a few upgrades and get the football team their own nice new stadium. Imagine have a nice new campus stadium similar to Minnesota Gophers stadium that overlooked the strip? http://stadium.gophersports.com/ Recruits would fall in love with it and it could help the program dramatically. The only reason for maybe building a domed stadium would be for the NFR and other events like boxing. But a domed stadium for college football kind of kills the atmosphere.
Build it. When the T&M was built UNR got the Lawlor Center as part of equal treatment. In addition, UNR has an on-campus football stadium. It would be nice if the state leaders could show some equal treatment in return to Las Vegas and UNLV in their desire to have a football arena on campus, especially considering how much money Las Vegas pays over the years to subsidize other regions of the state. The time has come to make UNLV great. It's been overdue, in fact.
They paved Paradise and put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique, and a swingin' hot spot.
They took all the trees, and put em in a tree museum
And they charged the people a dollar and a half to see them.
Don't it always seem to go,
That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone
They paved Paradise and put up a parking lot.
-----------------------------------------------------
Given that the location for the project, as noted on the map above, is on top of existing parking lots at the southwest corner of campus, I'm not sure what lyrics to an awful Joni Mitchell song have to do with any of this, other than to show how little attention SunJon is paying to the facts of the article again.
That is one cool salad spinner. Oh it's a stadium...
I wish they would address the number one obstacle to any "real" pro team (NBA or NHL) using their facility: The pro team MUST be the prime tenant of the building in order to make enough money to stay in the city. They have to be able to choose the best dates, own all the signage rights, parking revenue, suites and F&B. If UNLV can't give them that then ths is dead idea. Because, quite simply, other cities do, and will continue to do so.
except for the two or three stadiums that still have an MLB and NFL team.
Glad to see they changed seating to 60,000 which will work with other events, bowl games, etc.
I'd support it 100% if it was stated that no net parking spaces will be lost on campus. Parking is already very bad, and they're going to put a stadium in the largest lot on campus...UNLV desperately needs more parking on the Maryland/Student Union side of campus.
@JLOKC:
If Las Vegas brings in a professional team, it should not be put in a UNLV arena. We have already had issues with this setup, in 1999 when then-UNLV President Carol Harter decided that she did not want the Las Vegas Thunder of the International Hockey League in "my arena" (her words). She refused to negotiate with Thunder ownership when their agreement expired, and we lost the team. The level of hockey we have now is far below what we lost, and we had no team at all for four years.
If we're going to go pro, we should not subject to the whims of a university president.
Forget about attracting an NBA or NHL team for the same arena and build it open-air! It would help the awful football program and you could still have an MLS team.
I don't know why Henderson is even considering a stadium out there. If we've learned one thing from Sam Boyd, it's don't put a stadium on an extreme end of the valley (the speedway is a unique case)!
Great project and idea but the devil is in the finance in this deal. I don't see how an unsecured bond issue from UNLV will raise anything close to the sums needed.
Lenders in the current climate won't lend to many with security. I just can't see why someone will buy a bond from UNLV. I am sure there would be an handful of donors but nowhere near $100 million.
The option is then Majestic funds it. But again, how are they going to raise that kind of financing without someone/something underwriting it?
This is where I suspect they want the State government to underwrite and cover the project.
I wish that somebody would build something! A large stadium with 40,000 to 60,000 seating is a great idea. However, building it with an open air concept is a horrible idea. I dont have to tell anybody that it is way too HOT here to sit outside most of the time. A domed stadium is not a good idea either. The only solution is to build it with a retractable roof that way it could be used for many different events and have a natural grass surface. And by the way, you really need to find a hobby if you really want to sit and watch soccer!
Unless I'm missing something, I support this 100%.
How about improving the academics insteading of paying for another new UNLV building? Ever since I went to UNLV (1996) I have seen brand new building after building being built, but no improvement to teaching and the curriculum. I majored in finance at UNLV and what I learned is nothing compared to what UCLA finance students learn.
Traffic to/from this stadium would be horrendous. Why not build it on the North Campus property next to the major freeways I-15 and I-215?
Build it! Droves of youngsters are already hip to UNLV from the basketball program and the allure of the city itself. Once they see this and imagine living in the new dorms - close the deal!
Please get this done! Also throw in a Major League Soccer team as well!
Taxpayer-financed private stadiums won't fly these days, so what's the next best thing? Have the idiot taxpayers co-sign ("issue but not underwrite the bonds")! This is the same blob of muck they're trying to float over in Henderson. We all know co-signers never have to pay up, right?
The site for the stadium isn't practical. It would be an obstruction for airplanes.
Build it. Traffic is a sorry excuse, and those stuck in it if it happens should have been going to the game anyway. Haha. MLS games are a ton of fun to go to as well if you can get people excited about it. Here in Seattle, more people attend the Sounders games than the Mariners. Very passionate fans. Las Vegas has a pretty big soccer base as well. If it's put in Henderson, why is that any different than Sam Boyd? That should be taken out of the plan altogether.
A couple of things I'm noticing...
60,000 is great for professional sports like MLS and NFL, but it is too large to stand just as a UNLV venue unless our team starts getting to say Bosie St. status.
The Stadium out in Henderson should be the professional venue but the a 17,500 seats its too small to house a professional NBA or NHL team. The 25,000 seat stadium could work for baseball and MLS but the NFL would be completely out of the question. FYI the smallest NFL stadium is 61,500 seats (Soldier Field - Chicago Bears).
To me the more stadiums the merrier, so long as they are well thought out, don't use taxpayers dollars and possibly have teams committed to them before being built. It creates jobs an a sense of community when we all have a team to cheer for.
Smatresk, Livengood, and the rest of those in charge: Get this project done. In this era where football rules the scene, UNLV MUST become a major player.
Like everything else in Nevada, this thing has big potential!
Go Rebs!!!
If you build it.. they will come..
The Players.
The supporters.
The Alumni
The Fans.
Here we go arena builders take notes of the top 12 teams losing their fan base according to this yahoo article: http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news?slug=ys...
I personally will take any of these teams except for the Raiders. hehe. (although there are a lot of Raider fans here)
12. Oakland Raiders
11. Columbus Blue Jackets
10. Indiana Pacers
9. Tampa Bay Bucs
8. Philadelphia 76ers
7. Arizona Diamondbacks
6. Detroit Lions
5. Oakland Athletics
4. Pittsburgh Pirates
3. Seattle Mariners
2. Baltimore Orioles
1. Cleavland Indians
GO GET EM'!