On Wednesday, Dec. 17, the Las Vegas City Council is scheduled to vote on a revised term sheet that if approved would clear the way for a new downtown soccer stadium to be built, and create the opportunity for Las Vegas to host a Major League Soccer expansion franchise. The plans for the $200 million stadium will be heard at the City Council meeting that begins at 9 a.m. in Council Chambers on the second floor of City Hall, 495 S. Main St. In addition, the meeting can be viewed on KCLV Channel 2 or online at www.lasvegasnevada.gov.

The new term sheet greatly reduces the amount of the city’s investment in the project. In fact, the private developers, Findlay Sports & Entertainment and The Cordish Companies, would increase their investment in the stadium from $49.25 million as originally outlined on Sept. 3 to $143.5 million now. The private developers also are paying the acquisition and start-up costs of the MLS franchise.

The city’s debt for the project is also greatly reduced from $115 million on Sept. 3 to $25 million. The total city investment has dropped from as much as $129 million to $56.5 million. The key points of the revised term sheet are as follows:

The stadium will be privately owned, privately managed and privately operated. However, the city will have access to use the stadium for community events.

The total cost of the stadium is $200 million. Private funding would cover $143,500,000 of the total cost of the stadium. Private funding sources include $133,500,000 in developer debt and equity, and $10 million in New Market Tax Credits.

The city will issue recreational bonds for about $50 million to be repaid through hotel room tax revenue. Only $25 million would be used toward the stadium, and the rest could be used for capital improvement projects like new sports fields, parks, trails and cultural facilities.

The city will provide $31.5 million in infrastructure funding to develop the project site and Symphony Park, the location of the proposed stadium in the downtown. That money will include streets, gutters, curbs, drainage, and environmental soil remediation.

The city also will provide stadium patrons with access to a planned public parking garage in Symphony Park and access to the existing 500 Main Street garage.

The city, through the Las Vegas Redevelopment Agency, is pledging tax increment financing (TIF) revenue from the stadium which will provide revenue on an annual basis to the developer to help offset property taxes payable for the stadium.

Another key point is that the percentage of city debt coming from stadium revenue is now zero. This means the city’s investment is protected regardless of how well the stadium performs.

The private partners have pledged an additional $250 million in additional development on Symphony Park. If this development is started within five years the partners would receive 100 percent of the TIF rebate. As an incentive, the amount of the TIF rebate will be reduced by 10 percent for every year the developers delay the additional development. In other words, the longer this additional development takes the private partners will receive less of a rebate.

In addition to these new terms the deal also calls for Findlay Sports & Entertainment and Cordish to provide $500,000 of in-kind contributions annually for the youth in the community. This could include things like tickets, soccer clinics, etc.

If the City Council votes to accept the term sheet on Wednesday, Dec.17, then the project is set to move forward pending Major League Soccer choosing Las Vegas for the expansion franchise that is available. If the MLS does not award Las Vegas a franchise then the stadium would not be built. Findlay Sports & Entertainment and The Cordish Companies are responsible for the estimated $102 million franchise fee and all other costs associated with bringing a team to Las Vegas.