More progress made in A’s $2B ballpark project on Strip
The Athletics reported significant progress in their Las Vegas ballpark project last week as the team submitted a development agreement to Clark County and received a building permit for $87 million in concrete work at the stadium site.
The development agreement, which outlines how the stadium will be built and operated, was delivered to the county on Aug. 25. A’s vice chairman Sandy Dean told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Tuesday that he is hopeful that the agreement will be heard by the Clark County Commission “soon” after the lengthy document is reviewed by officials.
Clark County spokeswoman Jennifer Cooper said it is expected that the development agreement will be agendized at a zoning meeting later this month, with a public hearing on that matter to follow in October.
The Las Vegas Stadium Authority, the entity tasked with overseeing the ballpark project, approved a separate development agreement with the A’s last year.
In March, the Clark County Commission approved land use permits for the ballpark, which included the ability for the A’s to start work on the project before development agreements were approved to keep the project on schedule for its planned 2028 completion.
The A’s are responsible for paying all project costs before the county approves the development agreement. Once that occurs and the A’s have spent the first $100 million on the project, the team may request up to $380 million in public funding earmarked for the project by Senate Bill 1 in 2023. A’s brass has stated in the past that they plan to use $350 million of the available $380 million on the project.
Ballpark construction moves ahead
Clark County issued a building permit on Aug. 26 for the Athletics’ Strip ballpark to allow the Mortenson-McCarthy joint venture contractor to begin $87 million of work pouring concrete from the lowest point of the site up to the main concourse of the A’s $2 billion, 33,000-fan capacity ballpark.
Dean sent a letter on Aug. 26 to county manager Kevin Schiller requesting the permit by 5 p.m. that day, despite some outstanding issues with public works, to ensure the project avoid a delay that would have been costly to the project.
The county and A’s leadership have been discussing those issues over the past few months, which are tied to civil engineering aspects of the project, which include sewer, drainage and traffic mitigation aspects, according to Dean. He said the goal is to have those issues figured out by November, when the A’s hope to have the next ballpark building permit issued by the county.
Clark County declined to comment on the public works issues, due to ongoing negotiations with the A’s, Cooper said.
“Because we are negotiating with the A’s, I am unable to comment on the issues at this time.”
Athletics president Marc Badain told the Las Vegas Review-Journal last month that he expects the new concrete work to be viewable above the 10-foot construction wall built around the site sometime before early October. Dean said Tuesday that timeline remains intact.
This marks the fifth building permit issued to the phased project, that already included early and final grading, life safety, and foundation and utility work. The total value of the work tied to the already issued permits is $132.9 million.
The A’s applied for another building permit on Aug. 28 for roof structure work that is tabbed at a $165.4 million.
The A’s previously applied for a permit for$ 70.5 million in primary steel structure and seating work above the stadium’s main concourse. The A’s hope to receive that permit in November, according to Dean.
In all, the A’s have applied for building permits that are valued at total of $378.8 million.
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.