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Any word on the status of the All-Net Arena?
[This answer is written by Stiffs & Georges blogger David McKee.]
Do you mean the All-Debt Arena? I've taken to calling it that, because progenitor Jackie Robinson never had two nickels’ worth of equity to rub together.
He did have tentative financing from Credit Suisse, but the lending house bailed on him, leaving Robinson at square one. He had everything — a rendering, concept, name, bounteous PR — except money. And frankly, given what a struggle the north Strip has been over the years, investors weren't exactly hurrying to underwrite construction projects in such an economically hexed area, especially after the Lucky Dragon closure. And that was before the pandemic.
What’s more, Robinson’s weird conflation of hotel, arena, and retail would be a case of supply without demand. The Las Vegas Strip is glutted with retail and not only does Las Vegas not have a male professional basketball team, the Strip could already host one either at the T-Mobile Arena or Mandalay Bay Event Center, both at the center of the action. Mandalay Bay is already home to the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces, owned by MGM. We think Robinson would need a deep-pocketed team owner to step in for his dream to even have a hint of a prayer of life.
Site owner Archon Corp. has had a devil of a time finding viable tenants for the acreage, former home to Wet ’n Wild, and Robinson is the latest to strike out. When last we checked, the "arena" site was overflow parking for construction equipment … for a different project, the Convention Center expansion.
Currently, Genting Group is spending nearly more than anyone has ever invested in a casino resort on Resorts World. If it succeeds in generating a return on investment, we think investors will be more tractable to Robinson’s pitch, though it will be fairly ancient by the time Resorts World opens its doors, especially in post-pandemic "years."
Even so, we don’t see an uptick in North Strip business until the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority finishes building its expansion all the way out to the Strip on the old Riviera site. We’ll believe in the All-Net Arena when the shovels actually go into the ground … and maybe not even then. Anyone remember that Ferris wheel (Skyvue) that Howard Bulloch started building across from Mandalay Bay? Yup, same sort of thing.