The Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents Friday "gave its initial OK to a plan that would build a 40,000-seat domed stadium" on the UNLV campus, according to Richard Lake of the LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL. The stadium "would be accompanied by thousands of units of on-campus housing, 600,000 square feet of retail space, a spacious outdoor gathering spot and parking for thousands of cars." The approval "technically allows the university to enter into an exclusive negotiating agreement" with developer Majestic Realty "for 150 days." Majestic "will now seek legislative approval to create a special enterprise district around all the new things they plan on building." Silverton Casino President Craig Cavileer, a spokesperson for the project, said that "no other public money, including money from UNLV or its students, will be used on the project." Cavileer added that there is "no way to estimate how much the whole project will cost." It also is "unknown when it all might come together," though Cavileer did say that it "would almost certainly be built in phases, and that it would probably be a year or more just in the planning phase." The project "would cover about 150 acres on UNLV's 332-acre campus," and "much of it would surround the current Thomas & Mack Center near the southwest corner of campus." The Thomas & Mack Center "would also be refurbished" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 2/12). In Las Vegas, Richard Velotta reports the regents voted 11-1, with one abstention, "to approve the exclusive agreement" with Majestic. When regents discussed Majestic's proposal for an on-campus stadium, "most of the controversy centered around the exclusivity of the agreement." During the 150 day negotiating window, Majestic and UNLV will "develop a long-term exclusive negotiating agreement to bring back to the regents for consideration" (LAS VEGAS SUN, 2/12). The SUN's Velotta today provides a breakdown of the various arena proposals for Las Vegas (LAS VEGAS SUN, 2/14).
