Why parking for Raiders stadium needs to get figured out by March 1

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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.

Fri, Feb 16, 2018 (2 a.m.)

The Las Vegas Stadium Authority and the Raiders are in the final stages of the stadium agreement approval process.

The sides will meet March 1 to finalize terms, including addressing arguably the biggest concern of the $1.9 billion, 65,000-seat project — parking. With plans calling for around 2,400 on-site parking spaces of the projected 16,250 needed spots, finding solutions is ongoing process.

Talks have centered on the Bali Hai Golf Course, located across Interstate 15 and walking distance to the stadium on Russell Road, as a solution.

The stadium team has been negotiating with representatives of Bali Hai Golf Club lessee Billy Walters to take over his lease with Clark County so it can utilize the site for its parking and tailgating needs. With a considerable amount of work to do to secure that site, it’s likely the Raiders will also have look elsewhere to address their parking dilemma.

“We’ve been working on it for almost a year and we’ll continue to work on it,” Raiders President Marc Badain said. “We’ve spent a lot of time with the county, and as you know the county has the ultimate authority to approve the parking plan. We’ll continue to work with … the Clark County Commission and come up with the answers that they need.”

Stadium authority Chairman Steve Hill thinks parking and the rest of the issues will be worked out prior to March 1.

“We’ve got time,” Hill said. “We’ve made the progress that we needed to make by today to narrow down what needs to be resolved over the next few weeks — there’s time to do that. We’re confident that we’ll be able to do that.”

Having all agreements in order by March 1 is vital, so the Raiders can present the final drafts to the NFL at their annual meeting set for March 25-28.

“We’ll have to have (them) completed to finalize everything,” Badain said. “We’ve been in communication with everyone at the league, with our banking partners and the stadium authority board and their lawyers, so everything is on track.”

Community benefits oversight committee

Ken Evans, a stadium authority member and the Urban Chamber of Commerce president, was appointed as chairman Thursday of the stadium’s community benefits committee.

The volunteer committee monitors the Raiders’ community benefits plan, making sure small businesses, minorities and veterans are among those who get jobs relating to stadium construction.

The rest of the committee consists of Peter Guzman, president of the Latin Chamber of Commerce; Don Webb, chief operating officer of Las Vegas Stadium Co.; Lynn Littlejohn, director of community affairs for Mortenson Construction; Rebecca Fountain, president of KOR Building Group; Monica Ford, president and CEO of Nevada Partners; and Rose Davis, director of corporate services and MBE development for the Western Regional Minority Supplier Development Council.

The members were chosen by the Raiders, Gov. Brian Sandoval, Nevada Senate Majority Leader Aaron Ford and Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson.

“They’ve expressed that commitment all along and we know that they’ve always been sincere,” Hill said. “It’s better to start off ahead rather than play catch-up. That’s the right way to do it.”

Room tax again down

For the third-straight month, room tax revenues were down, with December generating 10.5 percent less than the $3.13 million budgeted mark. Room tax is funding Nevada’s $750 million contribution to the domed stadium.

The quarterly economic report stated that the continued below-budget numbers could be attributed to the Oct. 1 mass shooting.

Each of the three months following the shooting have come in under budget, but since the room tax kicked in last March, the revenue is 6.1 percent above budget, bringing in a total of $40.5 million.

Although the recent trend is down, Badain isn’t worried about a long-term effect regarding room tax revenue.

“It’s still on track to be higher than projected over the first 12 months,” he said. “I’m not concerned with people wanting to come to Las Vegas.”

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