A city council vote on a Las Vegas MLS stadium plan will not take place February 19 as previously expected, with the city omitting it from the agenda because of “still yet to be resolved” details in negotiations.
Las Vegas officials have been in negotiations over a plan that would see a new stadium built as part of a larger redevelopment of 62 acres of the Cashman Field property. The city launched formal negotiations in June with The Renaissance Companies on a master development plan for the site on the edge of downtown Las Vegas, anchored by a 25,000-capacity retractable-roof MLS stadium. The stadium development would be led by billionaire hedge-fund manager Seth Klarman of the Boston-based Baupost Group, who has an option to buy USL Championship’s Las Vegas Lights from owner Brett Lashbrook. Initially, the two sides were locked into a 180-day negotiating period that was to end December 1, 2019, but they opted to extend that deadline to February 5.
In recent weeks, Las Vegas officials have indicated that progress is being made in the discussions, and the city council looked to be gearing up for an expected February 19 vote on agreements relating to the project. However, that vote will not be taking place on February 19, as the city announced Tuesday that agreements relating to the stadium proposal will not appear on that meeting’s agenda. In a statement, the city said that specifics “between the private parties involved in the negotiations of a deal are still yet to be resolved.”
We remain hopeful the issues can be worked out, clearing the path to establish an MLS team here. In the meantime, @lvlightsfc will continue play at Cashman as part of the @USL_HQ
— City of Las Vegas (@CityOfLasVegas) February 11, 2020
The city expressed its hope that a deal can still be completed, and a city spokesman also stated that there is no new deadline to reach an agreement. More from the Las Vegas Review-Journal:
Citing details “still yet to be resolved” in negotiations with a developer, Las Vegas officials said Tuesday that a proposed stadium deal at Cashman Field will not be presented to city lawmakers next week as expected.
“The city remains hopeful the issues can be worked out, clearing the path to establish (a Major League Soccer) team here,” the city said in a statement. “In the meantime, the Las Vegas Lights FC will continue play at Cashman as part of the United Soccer League.”…
There is no new deadline to get a deal done, city spokesman Jace Radke said. After an initial 180-day window to come to terms expired in early December, the deadline was extended to Feb. 5.
Proposals to this large of a scale come with many moving pieces that have to be sorted out, which can make for a complex negotiations process. Just exactly if/when the proposal gets to a point that it is ready for a vote remains to be seen, but for now the parties involved in the negotiations have some details to sort out before it can get to the point where the agreements go before the city council.
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