Question of the Day - 06 August 2023

Actually, the massive Oak View development will incorporate Las Vegas' ninth major arena, along with Thomas and Mack, MGM Grand Garden, T-Mobile, Michelob Ultra at Mandalay Bay, the Orleans Arena, South Point Arena & Equestrian Center, Cox Pavilion at UNLV next to Thomas and Mack, and Lifeguard Arena in Henderson (formerly Dollar Loan Center). There's also Star of the Desert Arena out in Primm. 

Anyway, the Oak View Group is planning a $10 billion resort-casino-arena-entertainment district on Blue Diamond Road near Las Vegas Boulevard South; when completed, it will be the most expensive development in Las Vegas history.

Notice we didn't say "if" completed. Oak View's track record seems, to us anyway, to guarantee that it'll do what it says it will, as much as that's possible. After all, Oak View has been successful with every arena project it's undertaken (seven in total, with several completed during the pandemic) since the company was formed in 2015. The big ones are UBS Arena (New York Islanders), Climate Pledge Arena (Seattle Kraken and Storm), and Moody Center (Texas Longhorns). In addition, Oak View owns, manages, or is a partner in 36 arenas and nine stadiums in North America.

Also, Oak View bought 25 acres of prime Vegas real estate in March 2022 for just under $100 million. Another 41 acres of vacant land are adjacent that Oak View doesn't control, but presumably could develop.

Of the total $10 billion for the overall project, $3 billion is earmarked for the 850,000-square-foot 20,000-seat "NBA-ready" arena, as well as an entertainment district that includes an outdoor amphitheater. The plan also incorporates a 2,000-room hotel-casino and, we assume, other as-yet-unannounced attractions and amenities that will be worthy of the remaining $7 billion in the budget.  

Another element of this project that we like is that Oak View insists it will finance the entire project privately. No donated acreage, no overtime sessions of the legislature, no special tax districts or tax-transfer schemes, no state-supported bonds, no county-funded infrastructure improvements, no demolished hotel-casino, no pie-in-the-sky attendance and profit projections, no ethically compromised analyst-cheerleaders, no public fundi -- sorry, got a little carried away there for a minute, thinking about another project that's been proposed recently.

Oak View says it's in the process of applying for county construction permits, which it hopes to finalize by the end of the year, with groundbreaking sometime next year.