September 13, 2011
Majestic on $2B Vegas stadium: Read their lips, no new taxes
Majestic's proposed 40,000-seat domed stadium and basketball arena may have died in the Nevada legislature, but as we all know, stadium plans never stay dead for long. And so we have this from today's Las Vegas Sun:
The public-private partners behind a proposed on-campus stadium at UNLV say they are developing a plan to build it without raising taxes.
Since the Legislature this year rejected a special tax district to fund the $2 billion stadium/dormitory/retail project, university administrators and Majestic Realty Co. have been working on a financial formula and other changes to allow the project to move forward.
Craig Cavileer, president of Silverton resort and Majestic's representative on the project, said one idea is for UNLV to issue but not underwrite bonds to pay for construction, allowing the university to avoid liability should the project fail and investors sue. Another idea is for Majestic to fund the project.
Now, that's hand-wavy in the extreme — Majestic says it can find a way to pay for a $2 billion stadium by, um, finding a way to pay for it — but what I'm more interested in here is the headline: "Developers: A UNLV stadium could be built without raising taxes." There are basically two promises a wannabe stadium builder can make to the public: one, "no new taxes will be used"; the other, "it won't raid the general fund." These are, of course, mutually contradictory: If it's using public funds, it has to use either new tax money (which means raising taxes) or old tax money (which means taking money that was previously going to be spent on other things). But somehow you never see reporters discuss the flip side of these promises, as in "Developer promises stadium will only use existing public funds" or "Developer promises entire cost will be paid by raising taxes."
Of course, if Majestic really can fund the entire project itself, as it alludes to, then that's all well and good. (Though it'd still be using public land, and not paying any property taxes while using police and fire and other services that would need to be paid for somehow, which is less well and good.) But if they could build it themselves, then presumably they wouldn't have needed to ask the legislature for the talcum powder.
June 07, 2011
Vegas sports subsidy bill killed dead
The funding bill for a Las Vegas arena, or a Las Vegas stadium, or a Las Vegas arena/stadium/floor wax was declared officially dead last night by the bill's sponsors:
Asked if any elements of the various public financing measures presented to lawmakers would survive, former state Sen. Terry Care answered: "It'll be the surprise of my lifetime if it does."
Care was the chief lobbyist for Texas developer Christopher Milam, who had proposed building a $1.9 billion project including a ballpark, arena and stadium near Interstate 15 and Russell Road.
"It was a difficult bill to begin with," Care said.
Dead, of course, is a relative term when it comes to sports subsidy bills, so it's always possible that some of these proposals will be revived in the next legislative session. That's not until 2013, though — Nevada legislators take alternate years off, presumably so they can spend them at the craps tables — unless the governor calls them into special session before then. Quebec, you can breathe one-third easier now.
June 06, 2011
Legislative clock running down on Vegas stadium and arena deals
It's getting late early out there in Nevada, as the state assembly adjourns tomorrow, leaving little time to hash out the details of the complicated arena tax-increment financing bill that three developers are seeking to take advantage of (and a fourth is seeking to have amended so it can get in the running).
So far, legislators seem wary — "it is kind of hard to get all these bills like this at the last minute and often extremely difficult to get them through," said state senator Sheila Leslie — but that's not necessarily a major obstacle: "Typically, agreements are not made until the end," local AFL-CIO official and former state legislator Danny Thompson told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "That is the way this place works."
Of course, the Nevada legislature has been called into special session five times in the last six years, so as we're seeing in Minnesota, it ain't over even when it's over.
June 03, 2011
Nevada stadium hearing: Three projects enter, only one will leave
The Nevada legislature heard from three developers who want to build stadiums in Las Vegas — Majestic, Cordish, and Chris Milam — as part of a hearing yesterday on the bill to provide TIF kickbacks to whichever sports construction project can actually win approval. Though not exactly "whichever": The bill would only provide state funding for projects with 35,000 seats or more, which rules out Caesars Entertainment's plan for a 27,000-seat NBA arena.
From the sound of things, the hearing was mostly an occasion for the three developers to make their pitches, and we've heard about those already. Quote of the day, meanwhile, comes from bill sponsor (and Senate majority leader) Steven Horsford, via the Las Vegas Sun:
Horsford acknowledged that he wrote the original bill after asking each project team what they would need to make their financing pencil out. But he said lawmakers would ensure the legislation is written fairly.
"Sometimes things get rushed through at the last minute and consequences get determined later and people need to fix it," he said. "I completely agree we need to be deliberative about this process."
Which is why he let the developers write the bill and then immediately introduced it without any fiscal notes on what it would cost, doncha know.
May 31, 2011
Nevada legislature readies TIF financing bill for Vegas arena
Las Vegas still has more arena and stadium plans than you can shake a stick at, but pretty much all of them have one thing in common: They'd use tax increment financing, the much-derided financing scheme that kicks back property taxes (and sometimes other taxes) to help a developer pay off construction costs. And now there's a bill in the Nevada legislature to create a TIF district for an arena (or a stadium or something), introduced as only the Nevada legislature can:
This is the murky way some policy gets made in the final days at the Legislature: No agenda, no formal meeting on the bill. The "fiscal notes" meant to tell lawmakers and taxpayers the potential cost of a bill to the public were not available. Instead, lawmakers gathered to the side of the Senate Chambers - "behind the bar" - as press and lobbyists tried to listen in.
Sen. Ben Kieckhefer, R-Reno, and Sen. Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas, voted against introducing the bill.
"I have no idea what it means," Kieckhefer said. "I've had six different lobbyists tell me it means six different things."
Potential beneficiaries include Chris Milam's proposed $1.95 billion sportsplex, the old Cordish plan, and, well, pretty much anything. No word yet on the bill's likely fate, probably because legislators are still reading it to figure out what the heck it means — not that that's stopped anyone before.
May 24, 2011
Vegas $2B arena-and-stadium plan doesn't come with parking
So it turns out that not only is developer Chris Milam proposing to build a $1.95 billion sports complex in Las Vegas, but that doesn't include land for parking:
Nearly a dozen artist renderings depicting the stadiums on a 63-acre site west of Interstate 15 across from Mandalay Bay show the facilities linked by walking paths through greenbelts.
But the renderings depict zero parking spaces, though the largest stadium would seat 36,000 soccer fans.
Stadium developers are reportedly targeting an estimated 50 acres nearby for parking, event marshaling and facility maintenance.
But unlike the site for the stadiums, which is empty desert controlled by Texas developer Christopher Milam, much of the area planned for parking is already occupied by older single story industrial properties and warehouses.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal, which reported the above, didn't include estimated land costs in that area, so it's hard to say for sure exactly how much has just been added to the $1.95 billion price tag, but suffice to say it ain't nothing. And, of course, we have no idea how that cost would be paid for.
Speaking of paying for the sports complex, the same article includes more details on Milam's proposed funding plan:
He said he stadium project might be scuttled unless the Legislature approves the special taxing district, which would add a 12 percent ticket sales tax for any event at the three arenas.
The legislation would also allow stadium owners to keep sales, live entertainment, property and other taxes generated there for reinvestment in the facilities.
A ticket sales tax effectively comes out of Milam's own pocket, so it seems silly for him to be insistent on that — if it comes down to it, he could accomplish much the same thing by just raising ticket prices 12 percent and devoting the added money to paying off construction costs. Unless he's counting on these "user fees" to distract attention from that "also": kicking back sales, property, and other taxes that would normally go to government coffers. As I noted before, this guy does have a knack for thinking big.
May 20, 2011
Milam's Vegas sports complex would use tax dollars
Remember how I wondered last week whether Texas developer Chris Milam, who was proposing a $1.95 billion privately financed sports complex in Las Vegas, had something up his sleeve? Well, now Milam has shown his cards:
Investment banker Morgan Stanley is seeking to raise revenue through bonds that would be leveraged against the creation of a special taxing district that must be approved by state lawmakers. The proposed district would draw a line around the 63-acre site and would bond against the tax revenues generated by the project, the source said.
Yup, it's a straight-up TIF. So when Milam says "privately financed," he apparently means, "a private financial firm would sell the bonds, and taxpayers would pay them back."
I actually should have suspected this last week, as Milam proposed a similar funding scheme last year, when all he wanted to build was a basketball arena. That's the same time that he declared that "we have an NBA team under contract" to move once "other pieces of the puzzle fall into place." The guy certainly does seem to have a knack for outrageous claims — but then, he is from Texas.
May 10, 2011
Developer proposes $1.95B Vegas sports complex
Texas developer Chris Milam has bought the minor-league Las Vegas 51's baseball team, which wouldn't normally be notable here — except for what Milam insists he plans to do next:
Milam has labeled the privately financed $1.95 billion project the Las Vegas National Sports Center.
With a 9,000-seat ballpark for the 51s, the proposed center, which will be located on a 63-acre parcel, will feature a 17,500-seat arena designed to house an NBA basketball team and a 36,000-seat stadium for a Major League Soccer squad.
"It's the beginning of the greatest thing ever to happen for sports in this community," said 51s executive director Don Logan, who helped broker the sale of the Pacific Coast League franchise.
That's right, $1.95 billion for an MLS stadium, an NBA arena, and a minor-league baseball stadium — and all privately financed! Since typically all three of those items put together wouldn't cost more than $600 million tops, either Milam has something up his sleeve or he's completely insane, or both. Though to be fair, it's got to cost a lot to build stadiums out of liquid metal.
For those playing along at home, this looks to be the warmed-over Cordish plan, which hasn't been heard from in a couple of years, but stadium and arena plans never really die, especially in Vegas. The baseball stadium would be expandable to 36,000 seats to be MLB-ready if a team could be lured there; as Craig Calcaterra notes, Las Vegas' entirely tourist-based economy is a lousy fit for MLB, but as vaportecture goes, at least Milam is dreaming big.
February 03, 2011
Majestic floats Vegas stadium, hints at NBA, NHL teams
Not content with planning an NFL stadium in Los Angeles, AEG Majestic has set its sights on Las Vegas as well, where it is proposing a 40,000-seat domed stadium for the UNLV football team. And, apparently, other uses as well:
The plans also include refurbishing the Thomas & Mack Center, home to the UNLV basketball team. The domed stadium would house the basketball team and UNLV's football team, and be adjustable to seat fewer people for smaller events.
Craig Cavileer, president of the Majestic-owned Silverton casino, said the company has had no material discussions with the NBA, NHL or any other league about putting a team in the new stadium. He said the deal would not hinge on having a professional team in its stadium.
"It'll be ready for that, but it's not contingent on that," Cavileer said.
Good thing it's not, because let's be blunt: Putting an NBA or NHL team in a 40,000-seat stadium is not going to happen, "adjustable" or not. Those leagues have already been through that in the years that teams played in buildings like the Alamodome, and have made abundantly clear that what a condition of approving a team is a state-of-the-art arena, not a retrofitted stadium.
Still, it makes a good selling point for sportswriters slavering for local pro sports to cover. Not that any of them would be that gullible, right?
August 21, 2010
Vegas mayor promises MLB team for some, miniature American flags for others
Oscar Goodman has been mayor of Las Vegas for 11 years, and in that time probably his most defining characteristic is that he's never met a sports franchise he didn't like. (And that's saying something, given that this is a guy whose Wikipedia entry includes an entry for "Controversies: Thumb amputation and caning.") He's publicly wooed the Montreal Expos, Florida Marlins,San Diego Chargers, and Pittsburgh Penguins, all without the barest hint of where these teams would play if they relocated to Vegas.
Still, even Goodman had never done what he did last week: told reporters that he was in "very serious" talks to built a 45,000-seat domed stadium and that Las Vegas had been "designated an American League city." By whom, Goodman wasn't saying — I'm pretty sure the last time baseball divvied up territories by league was during expansion discussions in the early 1960s, so it'd be pretty bizarre for MLB to revive the concept now.
Baseball business observers likewise greeted Goodman's pronouncement with skepticism, noting that MLB says it doesn't intend on moving any teams across state lines anytime soon and that Vegas doesn't really need a baseball team to compete with the casinos as an attraction.
Still, even merely hinting that he was going to lure a major-league baseball team was enough to get Goodman's name in the papers — and even got our old friend Zennie Abraham speculating that clearly it's the Oakland A's headed to Nevada. Which doesn't seem very likely, but if it does happen — even if in the year 2050 — Goodman was vague enough that he'll be able to claim credit. That's always a good way to pad your Wikipedia entry, and nobody even has to lose their thumbs.