Las Vegas officials next month will ask for proposals to build an arena downtown, veering from what has been a joint effort with Clark County to build a new arena that would host events being held at the Thomas & Mack Center.
The request for proposals will be sent April 20 soliciting offers from all who are interested but in particular targeting different groups of investors that have been meeting with city officials, City Manager Doug Selby said.
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"We feel like we've had a number of interesting and attractive offers. We need to sort through them in a methodical fashion, so we are able to take advantage of the best offer," Selby said.
"Now we're getting into the meat and potatoes," Mayor Oscar Goodman said.
The request will solicit proposals for an arena downtown only, leaving out sites outside the city that developers have looked at for an arena.
Goodman said the proposal was independent of the county.
"It's a city project. I want it in the city, I want it in the city's core," he said. "I'm not asking the county for anything at this point, not even their support."
Clark County Manager Virginia Valentine confirmed the city offered to have the county join in the request for proposals. She said the arena was not a priority for the county commission.
"While I think commissioners generally support the arena concept, we are not in a position (to help finance it) because the highest priority for us is child welfare, UMC, the justice system," she said. "We have a whole lot of needs."
The request for proposals will offer about 12 acres of land that the city has been acquiring across from City Hall, between Stewart Avenue and U.S. Highway 95. Also, the current City Hall location could be packaged with the 12 acres, Selby said.
Goodman also pointed to other sites in the city, including Cashman Field.
Goodman and Clark County Chairman Rory Reid stood side-by-side in April when they announced a task force to study the need for a new arena. A consultant said the Las Vegas Valley will need a new arena to replace the Thomas & Mack to keep Las Vegas competitive with other markets attracting events.
The report listed top-tier sites, including three south of the Strip in Clark County and three downtown.
Fred Nassiri, who controls a 66-acre parcel south of the Strip, is still looking at building an arena at the location, with hotels, condominiums and retail entertainment, said his consultant Lisa Mayo-DeRiso.
"When the numbers come together and we look at the financing, we'll see how it plays out," she said. "We're still talking to people who are interested."
Goodman said that if someone had the wherewithal to build an arena without government support anywhere in the Las Vegas Valley, he would support them.
"Let's assume hypothetically, someone at the south end of the Strip builds an arena. We wish them well. That sort of ends it," Goodman said.
The consultant who worked with the task force, Texas-based Conventions, Sports & Leisure International, was adamant that an arena would cost more than $400 million, not including land, infrastructure and parking. The consultant said that the facility would need to receive millions of dollars a year in public support.
Goodman said, "I made a promise we're not going to tax constituents. I'm not going to break that promise."
Not that Goodman is not willing to use a little sugar to entice a developer.
The city has three things to offer. The first is the land. The second is tax increment financing, in which a developer receives back increased property taxes it would pay on its development. Third, a state law allows bonds to be issued using increases in sales tax from a development.
Potential developers will have two months to come back to the city with a proposal, Selby said.
The city entered into a new contract with Conventions, Sports & Leisure earlier this month for help with the request for proposals. The contract was worth $100,000.
