City Council OKs sports arena study

The Cordish Companies and the Las Vegas City Council cemented their relationship Wednesday, with the council approving an agreement allowing the Baltimore-based developer to study building a sports arena, an entertainment district and a hotel-casino on a large tract of city-owned land downtown.

"We're counting on you because this is our dream," Mayor Oscar Goodman said to Port Telles, Cordish's development director.

The main part of that dream would be a 20,000-seat arena for a professional basketball or hockey team, surrounded by streets of restaurants and nightclubs.

The current City Hall site would be redeveloped into a hotel-casino, since plans call for the city's headquarters to be moved to Main Street.

That move is not a done deal, however, and Councilman Stavros Anthony -- who opposes building a new city hall -- wondered if Cordish would proceed with the project if City Hall wasn't moved.

"We're not a company that gives up easily," Telles said. "It's something that we would have to look at and analyze."

The study area includes the current City Hall site at Las Vegas Boulevard and Stewart Avenue and 19.75 acres the city owns between Las Vegas Boulevard and Eighth Street from Stewart to U.S. Highway 95.

The agreement calls for Las Vegas to contribute up to $150,000 for studies to evaluate the project, with Cordish paying for work beyond that amount.

If the two-year agreement expires without a development deal being reached, the city will keep the studies it paid for to use in marketing the property.

No NBA or NHL team has been identified as a likely occupier for a new arena here.

Cordish has built projects across the country, including Hard Rock hotel-casinos in Florida and entertainment/retail districts affiliated with sports arenas and racing tracks.

The last new hotel-casino to open in downtown Las Vegas was the Sundance in 1979, according to a timeline compiled by UNLV's Architecture Studies Library. It is now known as the Fitzgerald.

Goodman talked about the potential project Wednesday as though it was already a done deal, even though the agreement only sets up a two-year period in which Cordish will determine if the project is feasible.

"Today is one of the final pieces," Goodman said. "This is the tipping point."

Contact reporter Alan Choate at achoate@reviewjournal.com or 702-229-6435.