Long-Delayed All Net Arena Project Receives Extension From Clark County Commissioners

Posted on: October 21, 2020, 12:04h. 

Last updated on: October 21, 2020, 01:37h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

All Net Arena has received yet another land-use application extension from Clark County. The arena is the proposed mixed-use resort targeted for the Las Vegas Strip’s northern end.

Clark County All Net Arena Las Vegas
Developers of All Net Arena have six months to submit proof of funding to Clark County. If they do not, the land-use application for the vacant plot between Sahara Las Vegas and The Drew will be annulled. (Image: Clark County)

The Clark County Board of Commissioners today voted to extend the time frame the project has to secure funding.

All Net Arena developer Jackie Robinson, 65, a former UNLV basketball standout who later played in the NBA, was afforded another six months to secure the bond and development agreement for the project site. Construction must begin within two years. The player has no relation to the man of the same name who forever changed baseball by breaking the color barrier in April 1947.

The location for All Net Arena is a 27-acre site just south of Sahara Las Vegas on the Strip. Previous plans for the development called for a 23,000-seat arena, 44-story and 63-story non-gaming hotels, a conference space, numerous restaurants, a bowling alley, a movie theater, and a market.

Years of Delays

All Net Arena dates back to December of 2013 when Robinson announced plans for a $1.3 billion non-casino resort with an arena and 500-room hotel. Clark County signed off on the project in August 2014.

Robinson held a ceremonial groundbreaking in October of that year. But after some excavation work, construction stopped. In October of 2017, Robinson said his team wanted to expand the concept, and county commissioners approved the new scope — and a new $2.7 billion price tag.

There has been no progress on the resort, however, and the land remains vacant.

In the county’s six-month extension of the land-use application, if All Net Arena fails to execute its development agreement, submit its bond, and have its performance agreement approved by the board, the land-use application will expire and the project is effectively terminated.

Sahara Demands Deadline

Sahara Las Vegas has struggled since rebranding from SLS in 2019.

Sahara is in a bit of a dead zone, thanks to its little pedestrian traffic and end of Strip location. Fontainebleau, now named Drew, remains unfinished, and work halted. Lucky Dragon closed in 2018, less than two years after it opened. Lucky Dragon is located 1,000 feet west of Sahara and the Strip. 

Sahara Las Vegas Vice President of Government Affairs Andrew Diss told Clark County Commissioners that if Robinson and his partners aren’t going to move forward with All Net Arena, it’s time to see if other developers are interested.

We don’t want to see continual approvals every six months, every year” said Diss. “It really puts a chilling effect on that parcel of land if there are other serious developers willing to come in.”

“This project was first given approval to move forward in 2014, and here we are at the end of 2020, and no significant work has gone on,” Diss added. “Our property [Sahara] has invested significant capital onto our corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Sahara. With working stopping at The Drew, the empty lot next door to us… if this [All Net Arena] isn’t actually going to happen, then let’s see some serious developers come in a take a look at the parcel.”