Longshot Arena-Hotel Site Next to SLS on North Strip Has Dirt Moving
It took a few years to get going, but the excavation trucks are moving dirt at the 27-acre site next to SLS Las Vegas and Jackie Robinson’s proposed $1.4 billion arena-and-hotel site project on the north Strip appears to be moving forward.
Whether the All Net development, which includes a proposed 22,000-seat arena with a retractable roof, is actually realized for a December 2019 opening is another question.
And with the market already home to the T-Mobile Arena behind New York-New York on the Strip and Thomas & Mack Center on the UNLV campus, it’s unclear whether this proposed arena would be financially sustainable in the long run.
But County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani said Robinson informed her that the financing is in place to build the arena, non-gambling hotel and stores at the old Wet ‘n Wild site. Robinson has demolition and grading permits, so the old surface pavement has been ripped up and removed and there is a hole in the ground.
Legal issues surrounding the financing delayed construction after Robinson, a former UNLV and ex-NBA basketball player, held a groundbreaking ceremony in late October 2014. Robinson’s former UNLV coach, the late Jerry Tarkanian, had attended the groundbreaking.
Robinson had told me years ago that he was hoping the NBA would have a team play in the arena, but the sports facility is not reliant on hosting a pro basketball club.
It’s unclear how the market could accommodate another large arena with T-Mobile Arena a few miles to the south on the Strip and Thomas & Mack Center also in play. Plus, Sands Corp. is partnering with Madison Square Garden Co. to build a 17,500-person music venue behind the Venetian.
Robinson’s 500-room hotel will not have gambling and will be marketed to attract religious groups.
Contact Alan Snel at asnel@LVSportsBiz.com
