Officials to determine final cost of Raiders stadium in Las Vegas
A final cost figure for the Raiders stadium in Las Vegas is going to be determined over the next few days.
To arrive at the figure, representatives of the Oakland Raiders will meet with the general contractor of the project to itemize the guaranteed maximum price of the facility.
Determining the price Minneapolis-based Mortenson Construction Co. will charge the Raiders to build the 65,000-seat domed stadium, estimated at $1.9 billion, is a critical step toward finalizing a stadium development agreement between the Raiders and the Las Vegas Stadium Authority.
The $1.9 billion estimate has been targeted for more than two years.
If the actual price turns out to be higher, the Raiders would be responsible for paying the extra amount. That is because Senate Bill 1, approved in a special session of the Nevada Legislature in October 2016, locks the public contribution to the project at $750 million, which will be raised to pay down bonds through a 0.88-percentage-point increase in a tax on Southern Nevada hotel and motel rooms.
Don Webb, chief operating officer of the Raiders’ stadium company subsidiary, is expected to review every line item of the construction budget to determine the guaranteed maximum price, which will become a part of the final development agreement document. That document will be considered for approval by the authority on March 1.
Authority board members on Thursday took some major strides toward reviewing several supplementary documents that will be part of the approval process.
In Thursday’s 2½-hour meeting, members received detailed explanations on agreements for personal seat license marketing and sales, PSL accounts, project development, the construction funds trust and construction funds disbursements.
Contracted attorney Mark Arnold and Applied Analysis principal Jeremy Aguero, the authority’s designated staff, also walked board members through about 15 agreements that don’t require authority approval but were explained to provide the big picture of the final approval process.
The UNLV Joint-Use Agreement, which spells out access to the stadium by the UNLV Rebel football team, was briefly discussed. That agreement, already reviewed and approved in January by the Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents, will be a supplemental document to the final development agreement.
The authority board didn’t approve any of the outstanding agreements, preferring to tackle all of them March 1. Authority Chairman Steve Hill announced the March 1 meeting would start at 9 a.m., a deviation from the group’s usual start time because the Clark County Government Center’s commission chambers are not available in the afternoon.
The board resolved one critical issue — determining who would chair the Community Benefits Oversight Committee — and the authority opted to appoint one of its own.
Ken Evans, president of the Urban Chamber of Commerce and one of nine members of the Stadium Authority board of directors, was unanimously approved to chair the committee.
The volunteer committee is charged with monitoring the Raiders’ community benefits plan, which assures that businesses operated by small companies, minorities and veterans get a share of jobs and subcontracts on the construction of the stadium.
Oversight committee
Evans will be joined on the committee by Rebecca Fountain, president of KOR Building Group, appointed by Gov. Brian Sandoval; Monica Ford, president and CEO of Nevada Partners, appointed by Senate Majority Leader Aaron Ford; and Rose Davis, director of corporate services and Minority Business Enterprise development for the Western Regional Minority Supplier Development Council, appointed by Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson.
Three committee members appointed by the Raiders include Webb; Peter Guzman, president of the Las Vegas Latin Chamber of Commerce; and Lynn Littlejohn, director of community affairs for Mortenson Construction.
Fountain, Monica Ford, Davis and Guzman were among a list of candidates nominated by minority chambers of commerce for committee positions.
The appointment of Evans was a reversal from the authority’s Jan. 11 meeting, when board member Tommy White nominated Sean Stewart, executive director of the Nevada Contractors Association, to chair the group. Hill suggested then that the matter be tabled because many board members hadn’t met Stewart.
Stewart later contacted Hill to withdraw from consideration as chairman. After an authority attorney assured board members that one of its own could be appointed chair, Evans was quickly nominated and elected.
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.
Tax collections ahead of estimates
The Las Vegas Stadium Authority issued its February report on room tax collections and determined that revenue is running 6.1 percent ahead of the budgeted projections.
The February report, which updated collections from December, showed revenue that month was 10.5 percent below budget at $2.8 million.
Analysts have said revenue from the fourth quarter of 2017 was down because of the lasting impact of the 1 October shooting. The shooting resulted in a decline in visitation, a drop in room rates as well as an unexpected decline in room inventory due to a higher-than-normal number of rooms taken off line for renovations and upgrades.
For the 10 months from March 2017, when the 0.88-percentage-point increase in the hotel tax first took effect, and December, the tax has generated $40.5 million, 6.1 percent above the budgeted projection.
For Southern Nevada, the fourth quarter traditionally is the weakest for tax revenue generation because of the holidays, lower convention business and the tendency of resorts to take rooms off line for renovations. The first quarter usually is one of the strongest with a series of major conventions in town as well as the NASCAR race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
