If the NFL Oakland Raiders are to make a move to Las Vegas, a stadium plan needs to be in place soon, but its price continues rising.
Early proposals for a Las Vegas stadium have construction costs estimated at about $1.4 billion, without accounting for possible land acquisition costs. Factoring in the cost of land, the price for building a proposed 65,000-seat stadium with retractable roof could be as high as $2.1 billion, stadium supporters say.
That’s a large sum that largely would have to come from public funding. Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis says he came come up with about $500 million toward stadium construction costs.
Las Vegas Sands and its partner, Majestic Realty, say they can contribute about $150 million.
When combined with the Oakland Raiders’ offer, that would leave the public on the hook for about $1.5 billion, if $2.1 billion were needed to buy land and build a stadium.
Tourism infrastructure committee Chairman Steve Hill said he intends to ask Governor Brian Sandoval for another two months to assess possible stadium sites and funding mechanisms.
At the $1.4 billion cost estimate, early proposals suggest a 1 percent rise in room tax rates could cover the construction cost. But that would mean taking money from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA).
The Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee approved a half-percent increase in the Clark County room tax rate to help pay for a $1.4 billion expansion and renovation of the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Final approval, though, must come from the Nevada Legislature, but that likely will be a formality given the committee’s support for the funding measure.
Although the room tax rate likely will go up, it is limited to $25 million in total annual revenues generated, but that will be enough to help secure project funding.
The $1.4 billion expansion is part of the LVCVA’s 10-year plan to create the Las Vegas Global Business District at an estimated cost of $2.3 billion.
A seven-member panel will oversee the development.
While the convention center expansion is a separate issue, among ideas for a potential football stadium is to combine the projects and build a multi-purpose stadium on the site of the former Riviera Hotel & Casino.
The LVCVA has subcontractors razing the casino site and already imploded one of two hotel towers, with the other to come down this summer.
The LVCVA plans to build an outdoor exhibition area on the site, plus other projects, but CEO Rossi Ralenkotter said a combined-used venue might work.
Other sites under consideration include a 42-acre parcel owned by UNLV on the north side of East Tropicana Boulevard and near McCarran International Airport, Cashman Field, and a lot on East Sahara Avenue.
In the past week, another parcel on the north side of West Tropicana, where the Wild Wild West casino is located, also has been floated as a potential stadium site.
Each of the proposed stadium sites has advantages, although Southwest Airlines recently formally protested the UNLV site near the airport.
Southwest is the top air carrier to Las Vegas, and says a stadium near the airport would delay passengers and decrease safety.
If the stadium is built, it would be among nearly $10 billion in projects either planned or underway in the Las Vegas Valley over the next three to four years.
The $4 billion Resorts World Las Vegas is the largest current development underway along the Las Vegas Strip, and it aims to begin opening by late 2018.
Nearby is the $2 billion Alon Las Vegas development by Crown Resorts, which is struggling with funding issues and has no work done thus far.
A bit further to the north, the vacant 68-story Fontainebleau Las Vegas remains idle, but investor Carl Icahn anticipates selling it for some $650 million by fall.
An estimated $2 billion would be needed to complete the Fontainebleau on the north end of the Las Vegas Strip.
