Talks Continue On Cashman Field

At today’s council meeting, the council discussed future uses for Cashman Field. The city discussed several options and directed staff to continue pursuing plans for a major league stadium or practice facility at Cashman Field.

As the state Legislature prepares for a special session Oct. 10 to consider funding a stadium to be home to the NFL’s Raiders, city of Las Vegas leaders still believe the most obvious choice of locations is the Cashman Field complex. Others may not see it that way. But even if Cashman is not selected as the NFL stadium location, it still would be a perfect spot for the Raiders practice facility, a Major League Soccer (MLS) stadium, a professional baseball stadium or maybe a combination of these. Here are Mayor Carolyn Goodman’s main reasons the Cashman site is a no brainer:



“Cost: There are big savings to the taxpayer with the Cashman site—to the tune of $250 million! The city owns the 50.25-acre site and can include an additional 23 acres. The city can offer the sports-facility land at no cost, compared to other sites under consideration that taxpayers would have to help pay for through the Room Tax. The city site preserves private dollars for further private development near the stadium.

Access: The Cashman site is close to I-15 and I-515/U.S. 95. In fact, a total of seven interchanges are near the stadium site; four exist now, one will be in place by 2019, and two more are planned. This means visitors can get in and out easily, and taxpayers can avoid the major expense of building additional interchanges elsewhere.

Infrastructure: All the pieces are already in place for a stadium complex, including a vast amount of parking at the Cashman site and nearby. In fact, when nearby downtown Las Vegas is included there are more than 40,000 spaces available. There are also no major development restrictions on the Cashman site, including no issues from the FAA.

Timing: The site is basically ready now to be developed into an NFL stadium site, a Raiders practice facility or a stadium for soccer or baseball. The city can streamline financing agreements, saving time, and the city is ready to create dedicated teams to move the building permit process as fast as possible.

Regardless of where the NFL stadium ends up, the Cashman complex needs to be part of the discussion. Downtown hotels pay their fair share of the Room Tax, so downtown should see a portion of the direct benefit if the Legislature votes to divert a portion of that tax to help pay for an NFL stadium. And in the end, there is no disputing the Cashman site is a community asset that saves the taxpayers money and makes the private development dollars go further to create more jobs.”

The council also directed staff to continue discussions with major league soccer, and the Howard Hughes Corporation for future plans for the Las Vegas 51s.