Council is behind arena plan

There are billionaires behind those grand plans.

Developers of a proposed $9.5 billion downtown development that would include an arena, burnished their credentials Wednesday, as company representatives told the Las Vegas City Council that "multiple" billionaires are behind the proposal.

Mayor Oscar Goodman pushed representatives of the REI Group to reveal who, exactly, is backing the development. But the representatives declined.

Despite their refusal to name names, the council unanimously voted to approve the plan that would include a 22,000-seat arena, hotels, condominiums, casinos and retail space.

"This is a very quiet group," Jon Weaver, a principal of REI and the president of the company, said in an interview after the council's vote. "They're not anxious to broadcast who they are on television."

He said he would privately identify the project's backers to the mayor.

Weaver and other REI representatives already have revealed their financial resources to staff.

"We wouldn't bring someone to this point in the process who couldn't pull the trigger," said Scott Adams, director of the office of business development.

This isn't the only hurdle for the project.

The city next month will select a preferred developer for a downtown arena. REI said it will submit a proposal, but Goodman repeated that Wednesday's approval of the project gave the company no advantage in getting selected.

"We're taking the process extremely seriously," Weaver said.

City staff said billionaires also are behind some of the six other companies that have shown interest in building a downtown arena.

Goodman and other council members gushed over the project's potential to change Las Vegas and bring prosperity to older parts of town.

Goodman also added: "It would be a miracle."

Dozens of people showed up to voice opinions for and against the project.

Much of the concern was about traffic, which is still being studied.

Others worried about preserving the integrity of the burgeoning Arts District. This project would take out about 2 1/2 blocks of the Arts District.

Supporters, though, said this project would help the Arts District by increasing foot traffic.

The Arts District Neighborhood Association board switched its position to supporting the project after talking with REI and getting assurances that some property tax increases would be used for public art projects and affordable housing in the area.

"This has been portrayed as mixed-use or Arts District," said Gregory Borgel, a land-use consultant hired by REI. "We can have both."

Marlene Adrian, an artist, said she worried REI couldn't make their plans a reality. "Will they buy it, make it into one parcel, bulldoze it ... and then hold onto it for six years?"

Weaver said the company already has put more than $20 million into the project in deposits and consultant fees. It does not yet own any land in the area, though escrow will close later this year.

"I'm a firm believer this is going to succeed," Councilman Gary Reese said. "I won't bet my life on it. But I'm pretty sure it's going to happen."