Built to NBA specs
Former basketball star Jackie Robinson presided over the groundbreaking last week at the site of a planned $1.4 billion entertainment complex near SLS Las Vegas, on the north end of the Strip.
The hoops star will partner with Philadelphia-based Comcast-Spectacor to develop and manage the 22,000-seat All Net Arena, which is set to open in 2017, reports the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Robinson hopes to attract an NBA team to the facility, and also plans to make a play for the National Finals Rodeo, a popular annual attraction now held at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.
Cuningham Group Architecture of Las Vegas called the nongaming attraction an “immersive, interactive entertainment environment of the future” with a 500-room luxury hotel and spa, retail outlets, restaurants, a 16-screen movieplex, and 300,000-square foot plaza.
According to a statement from the company, the arena will have three main components: a 860,000-square-foot multi-purpose arena; the 300,000-square-foot Victory Plaza; and a 44-story hotel with spa and 500 suites.
Cuningham Group Principal David Hyde said the design team wanted to create “one of the most extraordinary arenas in the world.” Designed to the specifications of National Basketball Association, it can host events in fair and foul weather thanks to its unique retractable roof.
Pathways will lead people from Las Vegas Boulevard to Paradise Road, connect to the resort hotel and link to Las Vegas’s monorail station.
