A private global development group is planning a $3 billion project to include a $1 billion, 20,000-seat arena just south of the Las Vegas Strip at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Blue Diamond Road.
Sports and entertainment venue developer Oak View Group is planning to break ground next year on the 25-acre development, with tentative plans for completion by 2026, according to a report in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. According to the report, the project will include a hotel, casino and amphitheater in addition to the arena and entertainment district.
“South of the Las Vegas Strip represents one of the few areas of potential future growth of the gaming and entertainment corridor,” said Tim Leiweke, CEO of Oak View Group, told the Review-Journal. “This unprecedented project is an industry game-changer, and we will usher in the evolution of Las Vegas as the new entertainment and sports capital of the world.”
The project also is adjacent to a planned station on the new Brightline high-speed rail line planned to link Las Vegas and Los Angeles, a project that also includes plans for a new Major League Soccer stadium, built by billionaire Wes Edens, co-CEO of Fortress Investment Group, who owns Brightline.
“If those two projects happen, I think it’s phenomenal,” Leiweke said. “We’re excited because it really builds something dynamic as a live entertainment zone that is connected directly to Southern California. Just a huge boon for not only Las Vegas and Nevada, obviously for our campus as well.”
Leiweke told the newspaper that although no professional sports team is currently linked to the planned arena, his company is interested in pursuing an NBA franchise. “We would join the governor, Clark County and the business leaders and the tourism industry to aggressively pursue a franchise, should one become available,” he said. “But we’re under no belief, expectation or direction today that that’s imminent.”
Also included in the project is Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer and former Raiders President Marc Badain.
Oakview Group was the developer of the Climate Pledge Arena at Seattle Center, where the NHL’s Seattle Kraken play, as well as the UBS Arena in New York, the new home of the NHL’s New York Islanders.
