Sands, joined by Madison Square Garden, to unveil arena plans soon

The public can get their first look at the proposed Las Vegas Sands-Madison Square Garden joint venture arena in the coming weeks.

In the company's fourth-quarter earnings conference call Wednesday, Sands Corp. representatives said the project, which will be built behind its Venetian and Palazzo properties on Sands Avenue between Koval Lane and Manhattan Street, is still on track to begin construction this summer.

A public event to unveil the facility’s plan is slated for either February or March, which is expected to be attended by Irving Azoff, chairman and CEO of Azoff Madison Square Garden Entertainment; Tim Leiweke, CEO of the Oak Group; and James Dolan, executive chairman of the MSG group.

“You’re going to see something that’s pretty spectacular and I know our neighbors across the street, the Wynn, got to see it and it looks extraordinary,” Robert Goldstein, president and chief operating officer of Las Vegas Sands.

Construction on the 600,000-square-foot, 18,500-seat arena project has a summer 2020 completion timeline.

A bevy of major construction projects have been announced over the past few years, including the proposed Raiders stadium and the recently announced Wynn West expansion, and Goldstein said it's no surprise to see an upward trend in construction around Las Vegas.

“It’s a great place to live and work. The growth is returning around Las Vegas — it’s more of a lodging-based market than it’s been in the past,” he said. “The Golden Knights have done extraordinarily well and the hockey has been terrific, football is coming, why not.”

“Las Vegas has some great days ahead of it.”