To be set on 27 acres near Fontainebleau
Former NBA player Jackie Robinson, now a businessman living in Las Vegas, announced last month that he will break ground this year on a 22,000-seat sports arena that could also host concerts and other entertainment. Robinson has said he is interested in bringing a major-league hoops team to Sin City, and also says the venue, when complete, would be big enough to house NCAA regional basketball tournaments.
The working title of the venue is the All Net Arena and Resort, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The four-story structure would include a restaurant and nightclub, retail space, and that old Las Vegas standby: a wedding chapel.
“I’m really excited about this,” Robinson said of the project. “I started on this about four or five years ago, and at the time, the economic conditions didn’t help. So we just waited for the right time. We have proper financing in place, the economy is moving in the right direction and our lenders are saying now is the time.”
The arena would max out at 862,500 square feet and occupy 27 acres between the upcoming SLS Las Vegas and the stalled Fontainebleau project, which is about to be redeveloped as a Genting Resorts World property.
The arena would compete with two others in the works: a venue planned for the other end of the Strip, and a stadium proposed for the UNLV campus.
Robinson said his investment team includes several banks and national and international lenders. He added that the project qualifies under U.S. Department of Commerce and EB-5 Immigrant Investor jobs and capital investment programs. Cuningham Group Architecture has been retained to design the venue.
