By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
Las Vegas City Council members expect on Feb. 19 to discuss proposed deals with a development group that would continue the city’s pursuit of a Major League Soccer franchise in downtown at the Cashman Center site off Las Vegas Boulevard.
Meanwhile on Wednesday, the Las Vegas city attorney’s office will ask council Feb. 5 to approve up to $150,000 to spend on legal costs related to these proposed Cashman redevelopment talks that includes a proposal to build a 25,000-seat professional soccer stadium in downtown Las Vegas for a potential Major League Soccer team. The soccer stadium talks have been behind closed doors without public participation.
The public money of up to $150,000, which would be paid by the city’s redevelopment agency, would go to legal consultant Greenberg Traurig for “legal representation for the negotiations and drafting of legal agreements and related transaction documents for the potential redevelopment of Cashman Field.” It’s for the stadium/MLS documents needed for the council’s Feb. 19 meeting.
This is for the Feb. 5 council meeting:
It’s a consent item on Wednesday’s city council agenda, which means it might not even be discussed by the city’s governing board unless a city council member pulls the item for discussion.
The city’s PR department issued this statement Thursday: “The city of Las Vegas anticipates having an item on the Feb. 19 City Council agenda that, if approved, would take the next step forward with the Renaissance Companies to work toward bringing a Major League Soccer franchise to our community. The transaction includes multiple agreements that, if approved by the City Council, would result in the continued pursuit of an MLS franchise. Note, on the Feb. 5 City Council agenda item 14 relates to legal fees to complete the drafting of the legal agreements that are to be discussed at the Feb. 19 meeting.
“The city of Las Vegas remains committed to adding an MLS franchise to the exciting lineup of major league sports teams now calling Las Vegas home.”
The city attorney office’s request for up to $150,000 is connected to the city talking with Renaissance Cos about redeveloping the Cashman site along Las Vegas Boulevard in downtown. It’s in Ward 5’s Councilman Cedric Crear’s district. LVSportsBiz.com has called Crear several times for comment on the proposal, but has not heard back from the councilman. Here are renderings.
The city is privately negotiating with Renaissance and The Baupost Group headed by billionaire investor Seth Klarman on the Cashman redevelopment proposal and MLS stadium idea.
Klarman, CEO of hedge fund Baupost Capital, LLC, has hired Floyd Kephart of San Diego County-based The Renaissance Companies to engineer the potential agreement between the city and Baupost.
The exclusive six-month negotiating period between Las Vegas and Baupost was supposed to end in December. But it was then extended by the city council to February.
If the city council approves a redevelopment project with Baupost Group, Klarman would buy the current United Soccer League Las Vegas Lights team from founder/owner Brett Lashbrook of Las Vegas and try to move the independent soccer franchise a tier up to Major League Soccer from the USL, the Triple A league of pro soccer in the U.S.
The Lights soccer team is entering its third season playing as Cashman Field, which used to house the former 51s baseball team. The minor league ballclub moved to a new ballpark in Summerlin and was re-branded into the Aviators of the Pacific Coast League.
Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman is a big supporter of pro soccer in downtown.
While the city of Las Vegas has been talking about soccer stadium ideas and involved in negotiations, MLS named Charlotte, NC as its 30th franchise. The Charlotte soccer franchise owner, NFL Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper, agreed to pay a $325 million expansion fee to MLS. Major League Soccer could be open to expanding to 32 teams, so maybe Las Vegas would still have a shot at an expansion team.
Plus, NHL Golden Knights owner Bill Foley (who paid a $500 million expansion fee to the NHL) has mentioned his interest into looking into creating an MLS team for the Las Vegas market. He has not identified a stadium to house the MLS team, though the Raiders’ new stadium has been discussed by local fans as a possible option.
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