Summerlin film studio project passes another hurdle
A construction union group said it reached a labor agreement for a proposed movie studio in Las Vegas, just as Nevada kicks off a legislative session with big financial perks for the film industry in the works.
The Southern Nevada Building Trades Unions announced Friday on X that it entered into a project labor agreement for a planned film studio along Flamingo Road just east of Town Center Drive in Summerlin.
The 31-acre project is a joint venture between Howard Hughes Holdings, developer of the Summerlin master-planned community, and Sony Pictures Entertainment.
“This means thousands of union construction jobs will be created in Nevada!” said the Southern Nevada labor group, which represents around 20,000 construction workers across 19 unions.
In general, project labor agreements are collective-bargaining deals between trade unions and contractors, governing the terms of employment for workers on a construction project, according to union giant AFL-CIO.
A representative for the studio’s developers confirmed the project labor agreement and said construction would start upon passage of an incentives bill in the Nevada Legislature.
Tax perks
The Summerlin studio would feature 10 soundstages and a 2-acre backlot. According to a presentation to state lawmakers in 2023, Sony was committing $1 billion over 10 years for the project, while Summerlin’s developer was committing $700 million to build the campus.
Clark County commissioners approved project plans last March.
State Sen. Roberta Lange, D-Las Vegas, proposed a bill during the 2023 session of the Nevada Legislature that would have overhauled the state’s film tax credit program, but the proposal never made it to a floor vote.
Lange and Assemblywoman Sandra Jauregui, D-Las Vegas, have said they aimed to introduce similar proposals this year. Neither proposal has been submitted as a bill yet.
As the Review-Journal recently reported, Jauregui’s bill would call for the state to set aside up to $105 million in tax credits annually for 15 years, an increase from the current $10 million a year.
Of that, $80 million would be reserved for film and television projects at the Summerlin studio.
Lange’s upcoming bill would make up to $115 million available each year for 15 years, with $100 million set aside for productions at a competing project called Nevada Studios.
That project would feature up to 14 soundstages and a 5-acre backlot at UNLV’s Harry Reid Research and Technology Park in the southwest valley, the Review-Journal reported.
Nevada’s current legislative session began Feb. 3.
Contact Eli Segall at esegall@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342. Review-Journal staff writer McKenna Ross contributed to this report.
