Topic: News: Las Vegas The New Spot For Weightlifting Competitions?

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Developer Plans $4B Vegas Sports Resort
By Kathleen Hennessey, AP
1/26/2006

NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. — A California developer says he wants to build a $4 billion sports-themed resort on a plot of desert eight miles off the Las Vegas Strip.

At a news conference scheduled for Thursday, Matt A. Rose will outline plans for the Ultimate Sports Resort that would include a 26,000-seat arena, a 5,000-seat aquatic center, an air-conditioned driving range and other sports-related developments. The complex would also have a 150,000-square-foot casino, 5,500 hotel rooms and 10 nightclubs.

Rose said he hopes the resort will lure amateur, Olympic and possibly professional sporting events. It will be his first Vegas venture after several years buying and selling apartments and strip malls around Los Angeles.

"We want to be a destination," he said. "We'll bring in athletes and people interested in sports and health and fitness and families, and we have a casino, too."

Rose has $92.8 million in escrow for 116 acres in an industrial corridor in North Las Vegas and is negotiating construction financing, he said. He has lined up support from the city, a commitment from an experienced casino contractor and retained a former Strip hotel executive.

What he doesn't have, however, is major money. Rose says he's talking to banks and other investors about funds for the project, and hopes to break ground in six months, depending on investors' interest and regulatory approvals. The resort would open in 2009.

Rose is the latest of several sports fans and southern Nevada boosters to pine after a professional sports team. Chief among them is Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, who successfully courted the 2007 NBA All-Star Game but has not overcome major league sports officials' concerns about gambling nor opposition from some in the casino community.

Rose said his dream doesn't ride on a pro franchise.

He's targeting amateur and Olympic sports, from fencing to weightlifting , that regularly hold annual, well-attended competitions in cities with far less pizazz than Las Vegas. Rose thinks there are enough swimmers, volleyball players and table tennis stars to fill his five planned arenas year round and support a casino and hotel in a city best known as Las Vegas' growing but grittier northern neighbor.

Real estate analyst Brian Gordon said the off-Strip location may be Rose's biggest hurdle.

"Developing a critical mass at that site is paramount," said Gordon, a principal at Applied Analysis, a Las Vegas-based financial consulting firm. "The project is not going to capture foot traffic like we see in properties on or adjacent to the heart of the Las Vegas Strip."

And it will cost far more. In comparison, casino magnate Steve Wynn spent $2.7 billion on his bronze glass Wynn Las Vegas resort that opened last year with 2,700 rooms on the Strip.

Rose said his project will be both a niche market draw and family friendly destination. The site is a mile south of the Las Vegas Speedway, a successful race track and home to NASCAR races, and will feature go-carts, climbing walls, a skate park and indoor skydiving.

The core of his business model is drawing athletes to the site and keeping them there for the bulk of their stay. His pitch has been well-received by some amateur athletic organizations who are finding it increasingly difficult to locate facilities that can accommodate them.

Kerry Klostermann, secretary general of USA Volleyball, said the Ultimate Sports Resort would be a welcome option, particularly because it's geared toward athletes. One-third of the casino space would be enclosed and nonsmoking; its entrance would be separated from the main arena.

Gordon said the approach hasn't been tried before in Sin City.

"Other metro-resorts, they've all catered to the leisure and business travel," he said. "This caters to the sports enthusiast. It targets a very specific segment of the market."

[Matt Foreman]

Sounds like a risky move, from a business standpoint.  But I'd love it if it happened and we had meets there.  Vegas would be a sweet place to lift.

[Jack Dluzen]

hey thats cool about vegas  in the last year we were there 3 times ,the last time was in july 2005 , and we got married there at the tropicana, great place and the weather is excellent .no humidity!  vegas has a lot to offer!  a lot to  do and see besides all  the gambling , freemont street is a blast!!    :wink:

[JOHN BROZ]

The area they are talking about is quite far from the action of the strip!  When the motor speedway first opened - it was funded by fellow car enthusiasts Ralph Engelstat - owner of the Imperial Palace, and the owner of the Sahara who's name escapes me.  They dumped MILLIONS if I remember something like 400m to build the center.  after 2 years they sold it for like 150m.  the new owner held it for 2 yrs and dumped it for like 35m.  It is now finally making money, but a long road!  for that place to be successful they will need to make something like 7mil/day!  I think it is too far away from the strip to work.  I would love to see it though!!