Vegas Arena Vote Coming

The proposal, which is scheduled to go before the city council Jan. 22, would also extend a three-year-old negotiating agreement with Cordish, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, giving the city until June 1 to finalize a deal.

Should officials vote down the proposal, the agreement with Cordish will end.

If the proposal passes but the city can’t close the deal by June, Cordish will walk away with $2.4 million from the 2010 agreement.

“Many of the difficult negotiations are complete,” City Manager Betsy Fretwell told the paper. “Now we have to do the detail work to ensure the development agreement follows those guidelines and we get these other studies done to round the project out.”

But even if the project moves forward, the arena will still face stiff competition from AEG and MGM Resorts International’s $350 million arena proposal that is scheduled to break ground this year.

That arena is being constructed with private third-party financing and is expected to host concerts, boxing, mixed martial arts, awards shows and other events.

Planners also hope to lure professional basketball and hockey events, although no pro team commitments have been announced as of yet.

Vegas is also considering a $1.3 billion arena proposed by former Vegas basketball player and businessman Jackie Robinson.