Las Vegas Metro Development News

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McCarran airport envisions glitzy future as hub for international flights

A gust of wind whips through Rosemary Vassiliadis’ shoulder-length brown hair as she strolls down a long, dark tunnel under construction deep below the airfield at McCarran International Airport.

The director of aviation for Clark County gestures toward what she envisions as a glitzy future, marked by overseas travelers walking past vintage photographs of Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and the Strip gracing the a new, 995-foot-long corridor that will link seven new airline gates to the airport’s U.S. Customs and Border Protection station.

McCarran is in the midst of a $51 million project that will double the number of gates available to international air carriers, aimed at attracting additional visitors from around the globe who tend to stay longer and spend more money than domestic travelers.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/tr...tional-flights

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Mark Davis to address NFL owners amid report of possible delay in Raiders relocation vote

Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis will brief fellow National Football League executives Wednesday on Nevada’s plans to build a $1.9 billion, 65,000-seat domed football stadium in Las Vegas.

But published reports say the team’s relocation may not be considered until March or May at the earliest. Citing sources “with knowledge of the inner workings of the process,” Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk and NBC Sports said a relocation decision is expected within the next six to nine months.

A representative of the developers said initial discussions with owners “have gone well” and there was no indication that the relocation question would be delayed.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, one of the proponents of the Raiders moving to Las Vegas, addressed the media briefly late Tuesday.

“It’s a great match between the Raiders and Las Vegas,” Jones said as he was leaving a meeting. “I’m very impressed with the leadership in Nevada and the fact the people are supporting Mark Davis in his effort to bring the Raiders there. It makes me very excited to be as active as I can for it.”

Jones said he thinks the collaboration by Southern Nevada casino executives will play well with NFL owners.

“Steve Wynn is a valued friend, as is Sheldon Adelson,” he said. “I admire Jim Murren and all that the MGM does. For people like that to support the idea of having a team there is going to impress a lot of people in the NFL. I think this is a real good thing. It’s a compliment to the NFL that Las Vegas is supporting the idea of a team there.”

http://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/...elocation-vote

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NFL to study viability of Las Vegas supporting pro football

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Wednesday that a study comparing Las Vegas with Oakland would be the next step in the process of relocating the team to a $1.9 billion, 65,000-seat domed stadium off the Strip.

Goodell also renewed concerns about placing a team in a state that has legalized sports wagering.

Asked if that could be a stumbling block for a team seeking relocation to Las Vegas, Goodell said, “Those are things we’re going to have to evaluate. We’re going to look at the market, we’re going to look at what we see as the opportunities. We’re going to look at Oakland. We’re going to look at every aspect of this to make sure we are making the right decision for the long term of the NFL.”

Goodell said Davis’ presentation was “factual and members (owners) had the opportunity to ask questions and the chairman of the committee, (Steelers owner) Art Rooney, made it very clear that there’s still a great deal of information that we need to have in terms of the circumstances of Las Vegas.”

Goodell didn’t identify who would be conducting the study or a timetable for completion, but he said it was possible it would be presented at the owners’ one-day meeting in Dallas on Dec. 14.

Prior to Goodell’s news conference, Davis reiterated his desire to move the team to Las Vegas, hoping to get a thumbs up from owners as soon as possible. The support of 24 of 32 owners is required to move a team.

Asked what he hoped the timeframe would be to get a decision, Davis laughed and said, “Well, I’d love for them to say, ‘OK, today,’ so we can get to work and start building that thing. Maybe we’d be done by 2019.”

http://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/...g-pro-football

Raiders owner Mark Davis rails against Oakland 'disrespect,' has sole focus on Las Vegas

“My thing is I've never played cities against each other,” Davis, the son of late Raiders owner Al Davis, told USA TODAY Sports. “Even when we were doing the L.A. thing with the Chargers, Dean (Spanos, San Diego’s owner) and I both had in our deal between us, that if either of us got something in our own markets, then our deal was off and we were going back.

“So, Oakland at that time had the opportunity – they were really negotiating against themselves, and they really didn't want to do anything. They gave a five-page letter as their offer to the NFL, and we ended up losing the vote to go (to L.A.), and they sent us back to get something done (in Oakland). We got a one-year lease (on the Oakland Coliseum) with two one-year options, and I had a press conference and talked then about moving into the future. A week later, I got a call from one of the board of supervisors, said, 'Mark, sorry, but the deal that we negotiated with you is off. We've got to raise the rent and we're raising it three times.'

“Unfortunately, it just showed disrespect to the Raider organization and maybe just a little bit of false leverage on their part or whatever. So, we have the one-year lease with the two one-year options, and we'll probably play that out. But then we had to go look for a real home, and Nevada came through.”

Many questions remain about the Raiders’ proposed move to Las Vegas, as the 32 owners – 24 of whom must vote in favor of any relocation – wait for market studies, details on casino magnate Sheldon Adelson’s $650 million contribution towards the project and other information.

But New York Giants owner John Mara said “sure” when asked if that work could be completed in time for a vote in January. And NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said there’s no solution at this point in Oakland, where Mayor Libby Schaaf is leading a charge to keep the team that is likely months away from even being able to produce a proposal.

Asked directly if Davis is required to keep talking to Oakland to satisfy the relocation criteria, Goodell said: “I think Mark has given his best effort to try to do that. We are engaging also. … Mark’s expressed his frustration about the lack of progress.”

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports...tion/92422560/

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UNLV Medical School wins preliminary accreditation, clearing way for first class

It’s official: UNLV’s burgeoning medical school has been granted preliminary accreditation, allowing the institution to begin recruiting and accepting students for its first class in 2017.

University officials received the good news Tuesday from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, which accredits medical degree-granting institutions in the United States and Canada. In addition to announcing the decision, they released a preliminary rendering of the school’s planned academic building.

The accreditation decision eliminates one of the final regulatory barriers to the medical school’s debut and allows admissions officials to move forward with student recruitment for the UNLV School of Medicine’s charter class of students, who are expected to begin courses July 17.

It also clears the way for the UNLV School of Medicine to become the first accredited allopathic medical school capable of granting MD degrees in Southern Nevada.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/ed...ay-first-class
http://lasvegassun.com/news/2016/oct...nary-accredit/

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Clark County accepting applications for new Raiders stadium authority board

Applications are being accepted for seats on the new Clark County Stadium Authority Board of Directors, the county said Wednesday.

Under Senate Bill 1, the Clark County Commission must appoint three of the board’s nine members within 30 days of the bill’s effective date. Gov. Brian Sandoval signed the measure into law Monday.

The bill requires the commission to make at least one of those appointments from nominees submitted by Caesars Entertainment Corp. and MGM Resorts International, the two companies that generate the most room tax revenue in Southern Nevada. The $1.9 billion, 65,000-seat domed stadium is being funded partly with $750 million in bonds backed by an increase in the local room tax rate.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/busines...uthority-board

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McCarran Airport dedicates nation’s second-tallest traffic control tower

Against the dazzling backdrop of the Las Vegas Strip, planes can be seen taking off and landing from high atop the nation’s second-tallest air traffic control tower that recently opened at McCarran International Airport.

The panoramic views from the 352-foot-tall structure allows controllers from the Federal Aviation Administration to clearly see where jetliners are headed, all with a vigilant eye toward safety.

“Las Vegas’ air system has been growing very rapidly and continues to do so,” FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said Tuesday.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/busines...-control-tower
http://lasvegassun.com/news/2016/oct...d-at-mccarran/

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Second phase of Tivoli Village slated to be completed soon

Tivoli’s second phase, comprising about 350,000 square feet of retail and office space, is slated to be finished soon. The announced retail lineup is sparse, but management says more are on the way and brokers say the anchor – upscale home-furnishings store Restoration Hardware – could pump more life into Tivoli’s seemingly quiet shopping scene.

Tivoli’s restaurants get packed, but the open-air, Mediterranean-themed project in the Las Vegas suburbs has faced various hurdles over the years. It opened during the worst recession in decades and has lacked a big-name retailer; also, a hefty competitor, the 106-acre Downtown Summerlin, opened just four miles away in 2014.

Tivoli’s current retailers include jewelers, clothing stores and accessory shops. Mass-market stores that can generate bigger foot traffic are largely missing, he said, although Restoration Hardware would be “more of an anchor than what they have now.”

Tivoli management has announced two retail tenants for the second phase: Jewish-style eatery Canter’s Deli and Restoration Hardware, whose four-level, 60,000-square-foot store is expected to open Oct. 28.

Canter’s, which would operate a 6,400-square-foot location with a bakery and catering operations, is slated to open around January, owner Kevin Jeffers said.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/busines...completed-soon

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Lucky Dragon near Las Vegas Strip wins OK from Nevada Gaming Commission

A new gaming property in Southern Nevada that is designed to cater specifically to Asian customers won final approval from the Nevada Gaming Commission on Thursday.

The Lucky Dragon, a 203-room Asian-themed property just off the Strip on Sahara Avenue, will have its official opening on Dec. 3.

The Gaming Commission unanimously approved a nonrestricted license for the property after hearing a report on the project from General Manager Matthew Harkness and Chief Operating Officer David Jacoby.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/busines...ing-commission

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NEON MUSEUM TO EXPAND WITH LARGER RETAIL STORE AND ADDITIONAL EXHIBIT SPACE

In October 2012, the Neon Museum expanded into a new reception and office space housed inside the clamshell-roofed building that formerly served as the lobby of the La Concha Motel. Now, just a few weeks’ shy of the repurposed La Concha’s fourth anniversary, Neon Museum is growing again: Its offices are giving way to a 1,300 square-foot museum store, run in partnership with Vegas-based Marshall Retail Group (MRG).

Plans call for demolition of the current offices to begin “soon after we move,” Neon Museum president and CEO Rob McCoy says. The offices will relocate to temporary quarters at the former Las Vegas City Hall Annex thanks to Zappos, which is picking up the cost of the short-term lease. The temporary space will be called NE10 (neon’s atomic number) and will also feature gallery shows curated by the Neon Museum in conjunction with Zappos and the Contemporary Arts Center.

“We’ve been in discussion with MRG and Zappos since May,” McCoy says. “From the get-go, they saw the value of our mission as a museum and their ability to help us increase our reach and visibility—not only in Las Vegas, but also globally.”

http://lasvegasweekly.com/intersecti...521.1416105941

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Developer of huge solar array near Tonopah wants to build 10 more

A California-based energy company announced plans Tuesday to build the world’s largest solar project in Nevada, a $5 billion endeavor involving at least 100,000 mirrors and 10 towers as tall as any building in the state.

SolarReserve’s Sandstone project would include up to 10 concentrated solar arrays, each equipped with a molten salt system capable of storing the sun’s energy to generate power after dark, CEO Kevin Smith said.

The company already has built one such array, the 110-megawatt Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Plant, on 1,600 acres of federal land outside of Tonopah, 225 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The $1 billion array began delivering power to NV Energy late last year.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/busines...-build-10-more

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Murren: MGM working to attract NBA team

An MGM Resorts International spokesperson confirmed the company is trying to attract an NBA franchise to Las Vegas.

KNPR-FM reported on its website that Jim Murren, CEO of MGM Resorts International, wants to bring an NBA team, most likely an existing one, rather than a new franchise, to T-Mobile Arena.

“It wouldn’t be an expansion team,” Murren told KNPR’s State of Nevada in a wide-ranging interview. “It would most likely be relocation of a team.”

http://lasvegassun.com/news/2016/oct...ract-nba-team/

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Conferees get first look at Las Vegas e-sports arena

When Southern Nevada’s first electronic sports arena opens its doors to the public next month, the public may be able to wager on the outcome of video-game competitions.

About 200 people attending a two-day conference on the business side of wildly popular e-sports competitions got the first look at the 15,000-square-foot arena space under construction at downtown’s Neonopolis. Millennial Esports’ as-yet-unnamed arena is scheduled to host the North American finals of the Halo Championship Series Open Circuit featuring a $25,000 prize pool Nov. 18-20.

The company’s website says the facility will be able to seat up to 500 people.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/busines...e-sports-arena

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Ramped-up Spaghetti Bowl work to resemble ‘Car-Nado’

Not quite, but upcoming Spaghetti Bowl closures being dubbed “Car-Nado” by NDOT will begin a massive three-year snarl in daily commutes throughout the valley.

The major impact of Project Neon hits next week and the first four-month phase will restrict access from Interstate 15 to U.S. 95 North through next February. Closures and detours begin at 10 p.m. Wednesday.

“Over the next four months, we’re going to see a flurry on construction activity that will have a long-term impact on ramps,” NDOT project manager Dale Keller said.

http://lasvegassun.com/news/2016/oct...mble-car-nado/

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Electric shuttle buses would offer free rides in downtown Las Vegas by 2017

Visitors, workers and residents could soon have the option to hitch a free ride in downtown Las Vegas from a small fleet of electric vehicles.

The Las Vegas City Council is expected to vote Wednesday on a contract with The Free Ride, a Florida-based company that operates free shuttle services in six- or seven-seat electric vehicles on-demand through a mobile application and sometimes on a fixed-route basis.

In Las Vegas, the shuttle service would circulate in a four-mile area of downtown.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/tr...las-vegas-2017

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Las Vegas stadium gives energy to monorail extension proposal

The Las Vegas Monorail Co. will seek Clark County commissioners’ permission this week to extend the monorail’s route from the MGM Grand to Mandalay Bay.

The 1-mile-long extension was a project marked for advancement in a traffic assessment report commissioned by the Nevada Department of Transportation board and released earlier this month. Along with the extension, a pedestrian bridge is proposed that would link the new monorail station to a proposed site on Russell Road for a new $1.9 billion stadium.

The monorail company, a privately held nonprofit, is asking the county for a maximum of two years to acquire funding and start construction on the extension of the elevated, 3.9-mile-long monorail, which has operated east of the Strip since 2004.

Construction on the monorail extension could start as soon as the second quarter of 2017, according to backup documents provided to the County Commission. At this time, no public money is being sought for the project.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/po...nsion-proposal

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Jerry Jones says it's 'pretty definitive' that the Raiders will move to Las Veg
Jones sees the 'crosshairs' aligning for the Las Vegas Raiders

"Really if you look at the history of teams moving, this is pretty definitive. There's a pretty bright line right there. They've provided for a team, the most funding that's ever been funded from third parties," Jones said. "So that's about as strong, L.A. never really had that powerful of influence, I'll put it that way. Which is over $700 million of initial contribution from the state of Nevada and the city of Las Vegas. That's pretty strong. Vegas has a lot going for it. I think it's going to really have, a real, if you will, strong case to get an NFL football team. I know that Oakland, certainly, was approved to move earlier this year.

"And you put all of that together and that's pretty confluence of things coming together. I call that the crosshair theory when things get in the crosshair, you better recognize it most of the time."

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/je...-to-las-vegas/

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County Commission OKs plan to extend Las Vegas Monorail with Raiders in mind

Clark County commissioners, spurred by the Nevada Legislature’s approval of a plan for a stadium that could house the National Football League’s Oakland Raiders, gave their unanimous approval Tuesday for the Las Vegas Monorail Co. to extend its route from MGM Grand to Mandalay Bay.

The county Zoning Commission is scheduled to discuss approving use permits for the project at a 9 a.m. Wednesday meeting in the commission chambers.

Once the monorail company gets the commission’s final OK, it must secure financing and begin construction on the newly approved extension within two years, according to the franchise agreement amendment passed by the commission.

Construction could start as soon as the second quarter of 2017, according to the company. Myles said the extension could be opened to the public within two years of starting construction.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/po...vegas-monorail

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WHAT YOU’LL EXPERIENCE AT THE PARK THEATER

What is it?: The forthcoming 5,000-plus-seat music venue at Monte Carlo (aka the soon-to-be Park MGM), which we recently toured despite ongoing construction.

Where on property is it?: It’s on the southeast corner of the casino, where the Lance Burton Theater once sat. It also welcomes you from the north as you drive into Park Las Vegas from Park Avenue.

When does it open?: December 17 with Stevie Nicks and The Pretenders.

http://lasvegasweekly.com/ae/2016/oc....1477320635#/0

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Towbin Motorcars starts construction on Ferrari, Maserati showroom

Towbin Motorcars broke ground Tuesday on a 10,000-square-foot Ferrari and Maserati showroom on the corner of South Lindell Road and West Sahara Avenue.

Towbin Motorcars is already a dealer of luxury brands including Rolls-Royce, Bentley and Aston Martin. The company acquired the former Penske Wynn Ferrari and Maserati dealership at the Wynn Las Vegas last October.

The showroom will have large panels of glass and be filled with “Italian style and sophistication,” said Carolynn Towbin, chairman/dealer principal of Towbin Automotive Enterprises, adding that the company has sent all of its employees to receive “extensive training” on the new brands to make sure the showroom will be filled with knowledgeable sales professionals.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/busines...erati-showroom

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How the Los Angeles Kings helped bring the NHL to Las Vegas

Before the Los Angeles Kings' final home preseason game in Las Vegas earlier this month, Luc Robitaille, the president of business operations for the Kings, presented Bill Foley, the majority owner of Las Vegas' NHL franchise, with a silver hockey stick. It was a ceremonial passing of the torch from the team that had been Las Vegas' adopted hockey team to the team that next season will become Las Vegas' first major professional sports franchise.

"The Kings had a lot to do with developing interest in hockey in Las Vegas," Foley said. "They've been playing preseason games here for years. It's great for us. We're coming in here a couple of steps ahead."

Not only have the Kings been playing preseason hockey games in Las Vegas since 1991, but the Anschutz Entertainment Group, the company that owns the Kings, has been trying to build an arena in Las Vegas, which it always believed could house an NHL team, for the past decade. AEG was able to partner with MGM Resorts International a little more than two years ago to build the T-Mobile Arena on the Las Vegas Strip, just behind the New York-New York and Monte Carlo hotels. The arena, which opened in April, was a big reason the NHL awarded Las Vegas and Foley an expansion franchise two months later.

http://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/1...-nhl-las-vegas