Delay with development agreement shouldn’t slow stadium construction

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Copyright 2017 LV Stadium Company, LLC

This rendering shows the Las Vegas Raiders stadium west of Interstate 15 and the Strip. Construction on the 65,000-seat stadium is hoped to be completed in time for the 2020 NFL season.

Published Wed, Sep 6, 2017 (10:17 a.m.)

Updated Wed, Sep 6, 2017 (1:37 p.m.)

One of the most important agreements between the Raiders and the Las Vegas Stadium Authority will not be completed until next year, but the delay is not expected to change the stadium construction schedule.

The delay became known on the same day the Clark County Commission unanimously backed the team’s application for a number of zoning permits and waivers on the 62-acre stadium site on Russell Road west of Interstate 15.

The approval includes a condition that the Raiders have a year to solve their significant parking issue — less than 15 percent of the 16,000 parking spaces required by county code exist on the site.

A final approval will come at a later date, but today’s vote indicates little to concern the Raiders moving forward.

While the meeting took place, Las Vegas Stadium Authority board Chairman Steve Hill released a memo indicating the development agreement between the Raiders and the authority cannot be completed until February because of a complication in finalizing the contract between the team and its construction companies, Mortenson and McCarthy.

Hill earlier set an October deadline for completing all of the agreements needed for the Raiders to begin work on the stadium.

Despite the lack of a finalized development agreement, Hill emphasized that the 30-month construction schedule should remain on track, with Mortenson and McCarthy expected to break ground in late November and complete the project by summer 2020. Any delay in the tight construction timeline could jeopardize the team’s ability to play the 2020 season in Las Vegas.

The delay involves an issue with attaining a final number for the cost of building the stadium. While the widely reported figure of $1.9 billion is expected to hold roughly, the final estimate is required by law and by Bank of America for its stadium financing.

An internal staff memo to the authority notes that the team will hold responsibility for whatever occurs in its engineering and construction work on the Russell Road stadium site prior to the completion of the development agreement.

The Stadium Authority board next meets at 1 p.m. Sept. 14 at the Clark County Government Center.

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