Las Vegas soccer stadium talks could be extended through October

The Las Vegas City Council will consider next week entering into six months of extended negotiations with the proposed developer of a 25,000-seat soccer stadium near downtown at Cashman Center.

But Mayor Carolyn Goodman, who is championing the project, said Friday that needing more time was to be expected “because of COVID-19 and the condition of the country.”

City officials have been engaged in exclusive talks with the Renaissance Cos. since June on a master development agreement that also calls for residential and retail projects and is viewed as the precursor to efforts to secure a Major League Soccer expansion franchise.

The negotiating window has already been extended once before and the two sides have been unable to reach an agreement. Most recently, City Manager Scott Adams said a last-minute issue between private parties about responsibilities within the partnership had prevented a deal.

If resolution was close, as Adams indicated in February, the coronavirus pandemic has inserted a new complication by forcing the city into more pressing matters. A deal that was once hoped to conclude by February now has a different timeline: as late as October.

“I’m not surprised. I was expecting it because the whole world is in a little bit of a quandary,” Goodman said. “I don’t expect anything at all to change, just assuming we can all be comfortable that the world is moving forward again.”

Even the project site itself is illustrative of how much has changed in a few short months: An isolation and quarantine complex is under construction to serve at least 350 homeless people at Cashman Center, across the parking lot from a temporary homeless shelter that drew swift condemnation on social media but was defended by city and Clark County officials who called it a last resort after striking out on deals with landlords and hotels.

Meanwhile, building spaces at Cashman Center are being reserved for potential overflow if hospitals run out of space, city officials say.

Goodman, still confident about the project despite present hardships, said the city would “without question” continue to engage with Renaissance on the stadium deal when needed over the next six months.

The council is expected to vote on whether to formally extend those talks on Wednesday. The new exclusive negotiating agreement, according to a copy, deletes a provision in the original agreement: “With respect to any municipal financing, Team Ownership and Renaissance shall have the right to select the lead underwriters, with consultation with city.”

But asked whether that meant any potential public financing options have changed, Goodman said the city would “always try to avoid (using public dollars) as much as possible.”

Renaissance is expected to present the city with a detailed plan for financing and developing the project during the negotiation period, according to a copy of the agreement.

Contact Shea Johnson at sjohnson@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0272. Follow @Shea_LVRJ on Twitter.