Smith: Leave development “to the big boys”
Columnist John L. Smith of the Las Vegas Review-Journal says Sin City should be wary of a plan by Baltimore development honcho David Cordish to build an arena in the city’s Downtown. The Symphony Park plan has failed to advance despite much “fawning and fanfare” about Cordish’s possible entry into the city, the columnist’s wrote.
Smith also said taxpayers should be leery of the plan, which he hinted was a sweetheart deal, with Cordish paying $50,000 for a five-year Exclusive Development Agreement.
“Recession or not, that’s chump change,” wrote Smith. The EDA is about to expire.
Smith also faults the Cordish plan because it has no professional sports team as an anchor tenant, which impedes its chances for success.
Deputy City Manager Scott Adams and City Manager Elizabeth Fretwell, executive director of the Las Vegas Redevelopment Agency, have made no public comments on the matter. City Councilman Bob Beers said he’s not yet confident Cordish can pull off the plan. Las Vegas should “revisit the question of what that Symphony Park corner is going to look like,” Beers said.
“It would be irresponsible for the city to renew its EDA without at least requiring much tighter terms and a higher fee agreement,” Smith wrote. “Better yet, it feels like a great time for the city to throw open the area to other suitors as downtown’s national profile rises by the day. Cordish needs to considerably up the ante in Symphony Park, or fold its hand and leave the development game to the real players.”
