Las Vegas Grand Prix sued by nearby condo community
A Las Vegas condominium complex is suing the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix and Clark County over impacts it claims the inaugural race had on the community in 2023.
Meridian Private Residences filed suit in District Court Wednesday against Las Vegas Grand Prix, F1 parent company Liberty Media Corp., LV Diamond Property 1 (a Liberty Media subsidiary) and Clark County, seeking more than $50,000 in damages for alleged impacts from the 2023 race and for future damages.
Las Vegas Grand Prix officials declined to comment Thursday on the matter, citing the pending litigation, and Clark County didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The community claims that the months of road work, race set-up and course dismantling in 2023 distressed residents, made two property managers quit, forced the community to enhance a driveway at Howard Hughes Center to give residents a place to enter the complex, build a new security structure and provide extra security to keep residents safe. The impacted entrances also affected emergency vehicle access to the property, according to the claim.
The suit alleges that Clark County allowed the race without proper licensing and approved months of road construction without required permitting or a traffic study beforehand. The lawsuit also claims the community was never approached ahead of time about the road work and that race or county officials have not had any dialogue the residents.
The Meridian, at 250 E. Flamingo Road, sits on the northeast corner of Flamino and Koval Lane, just north of Grand Prix Plaza and just south of Sphere. The community is within the Koval stretch of the Las Vegas Grand Prix circuit. The two main entrances are off Flamingo with another off Koval. The Howard Hughes Center entrance was seldom used prior to the forced upgrade, the lawsuit states.
The 3.8-mile track, mainly consisting of public roads, includes stretches of Las Vegas Boulevard, Koval and Harmon and Sands avenues.
The constant road work in and around the area, including the construction of the Flamingo bridge led to days of closures at the Flamingo and Koval intersection, and noise associated with that work disrupted the lives of the residents of The Meridian, the suit says.
With the race already inked to occur at least through 2027, Clark County passing a resolution designating the race an annual event through 2032, the race and F1 spending $500 million on its pit Las Vegas building, the suit notes the long term nature of the race, which will lead to The Meridian facing similar race-related issues in future years.
The new lawsuit comes after grand prix officials settled separate legal claims with off-Strip casino Ellis Island and a trio of business owners located on Flamingo near where the temporary bridge is built each year.
This year’s Las Vegas Grand Prix is scheduled to take place Nov. 20-22, with crews this week kicking off infrastructure work tied to the race.
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.