Construction on the Las Vegas Strip rarely takes a fully linear path.
It's a difficult place to build because all materials must be shipped into the desert city and every construction plan faces both legal and financial hurdles. It's not uncommon for major construction projects to get announced and then go months, even years, before any work gets done.
That's the case currently with the huge casino project planned by Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta, and in a different fashion it's what's happening with the planned Guitar Hotel at the Mirage Volcano site and the Major League Baseball stadium planned for where the Tropicana sits now.
Related: Las Vegas Strip could soon outlaw standing still (really)
People largely expect all three of those projects to happen, but a tight funding market could derail any of them. That happened to the Dream Las Vegas project, a boutique resort near Harry Reid International Airport where construction ground to a halt when the builder ran out of money.
The Las Vegas Strip has dozens of planned projects that were announced with great fanfare only to never happen. In many cases, groundbreaking ceremonies were held, and even some construction was done, before things fell apart.
Usually, the announcements are loud, and the deaths are quiet. Projects that fail usually sort of peter out or just disappear with nothing publicly said.
One huge project, with implications for Las Vegas' growing "Sports City" plan, has ended, not quietly but emphatically.
Image source: Shutterstock
Las Vegas wants an NBA team
Las Vegas has teams in three of the four major American sports, or it will when the Oakland Athletics move to the city, perhaps as soon as 2025. The Golden Knights, the first team to call the city home, have even won the National Hockey League's championship, the Stanley Cup.
The Las Vegas, formerly Oakland, Raiders have not been as successful on the field, but they have been a massive draw. Game weekends mean a sold-out Allegiant Stadium, which sits just off the Strip. That means added business for the Caesars Entertainment (CZR) -) and MGM Resorts International (MGM) -) resort casinos, which sit close to the stadium.
That has been the case with the Golden Knights as well, albeit over 41 home games. On game night, the area around T-Mobile Arena gets packed with the 20,000 going to the game and thousands more who just want to be near the action.
Sports has been a huge draw for Las Vegas, and the city has been heavily rumored for a National Basketball Association expansion franchise.
Las Vegas NBA arena project killed
Las Vegas does not need a new arena in order to land an NBA team. In theory, a new team could share T-Mobile Arena with the Golden Knights.
But a dedicated arena built for a potential new team would make Las Vegas an even more attractive expansion city. An NBA-ready arena project had been approved by Clark County for a plot of land on the North Strip between the Sahara and Fontainebleau.
The project, the All Net Arena, has been in the works for more than a decade. It was led by the site's owner, the former NBA and University of Las Vegas star Jackie Robinson. A groundbreaking ceremony was held years ago, but no work has happened at the site and Clark County repeatedly had to extend permits for the project.
All Net Arena was supposed to be part of a huge development including a nongaming hotel with two luxury towers and a 22,000-seat basketball arena featuring a retractable roof, as well as a convention center, movie theater, and grocery store.
After 10 years of delays and promised funding never coming through, Clark County has finally had enough and has pulled the construction permits for the project.
"Time and time again, we’ve asked, ‘Just one more year, or two years, let’s get this done, we’ll get it done,’” said Clark County Commissioner Tick Segerblom. “We’ve followed the money everywhere around the world. And truthfully, it just hasn’t happened. So, I’m just prepared to make a motion to deny it at this point. It breaks my heart to do it,” the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
The commissioners voted 7-0 in favor of pulling the permits and ending the project.
All Net Arena's developers claimed to have landed $5 billion in funding but could not offer any proof of where that money was coming from.
The NBA has no formal plans to expand, but Commissioner Adam Silver has implied that the league will do so and Las Vegas would be heavily considered.
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