Las Vegas Homes and Real Estate News
Las Vegas Homes and Real Estate NewsGroup plans $4 billion NLV multivenue resort project Jan. 27, 2006 The venues at Ultimate Sports Resort include 26,000- and 10,000-seat arenas, a 5,000-seat aquatic center, three 3,000-seat multiuse facilities, a golf driving range, a bowling alley and an ice rink. The group has $92.8 million in escrow, according to an Associated Press report, for the 116-acre site about a mile south of Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The project was news to Chris Powell, the speedway's general manager and vice president. "Today is the first I became aware of it, and that was when I read a press release," Powell said. Major investors are being sought for the project, but Matt Rose, UItimate's president and CEO, insisted money is not a problem. Wynn Las Vegas, which opened last year, cost $2.7 billion. Rose said the group plans to break ground in about nine months and that construction should be completed 24 to 30 months after that. He said the goal wasn't so much to lure a professional sports team, such as an NBA or NHL club, but to provide a central location for many sports associations throughout the world to consider traveling to for events. "This is a fabulous idea for the Vegas valley specifically because you couldn't possibly duplicate this market," Rose said. "We also have to have fabulous builders, designers, architects, sports marketers, legal representation. All of that has to be in place, and we've done that." Rose has lined up Larry Woolf, the former chairman and CEO of MGM Grand and now the head of the Navagante Group, as well as Perini Building Company, HOK Sports for the venue construction and the Bonham Group for sports marketing. "We've got the land here and something unique and something we feel can be taken to a global marketplace," said Rob Yowell, Bonham Group vice president of sponsorship sales. "This is like an Olympic-type venue, if you will. We have the ability to make this beyond North America." But will it work? Daren Libonati, director of the Thomas & Mack Center and Sam Boyd Stadium, said he thinks the valley soon will need a new arena and stadium not attached to a casino so that the NCAA and professional sports leagues would be more at ease in placing teams. But Libonati wondered if 26,000 seats might be too large for the arena Ultimate is planning. He added that he thought marketing to the Olympic sports crowd might be a good step. "It's a neat concept to have everyday youth sports," Libonati said. "I think their idea is to provide a 365-day home for smaller Olympic sports and market to those sports enthusiasts, who will stay at the hotel, gamble at the casino and utilize the facilities. "They believe they have a great core in Olympic event marketing. I tip my hat to them and wish them the best because with Olympic event marketing, maybe they've found their core. I don't know if it will produce enough revenue to be profitable." Las Vegas 51s president Don Logan, who has been attempting to get a new stadium for his Triple-A baseball club, agreed with Libonati about the need for a stand-alone facility. "One challenge is having an arena be part of a casino project and expecting events," Logan said. "Colleges can't play at two beautiful venues, the MGM Grand Garden and Mandalay Bay Events Center (because of the casino connections). Having another one of these will compete with them for events." North Las Vegas Mayor Michael Montandon attended the news conference and lent his support to the venture. "What we've long known is that Las Vegas Motor Speedway is an incredible success at pulling a quarter of a million out there on a race weekend, of being a destination sports entertainment," Montandon said. "So when another destination sports entertainment comes out here, it's not too much of a stretch for us to say the basics of the business model work for us." If you are planning to relocate in the Las Vegas area, contact us for a prompt response to any questions you have about the Las Vegas real estate market. We invite you to visit our website to view updated daily listings of Las Vegas homes at Free Las Vegas Homes MLS Search |
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