Temporary plaza at Athletics ballpark weighed as funding remains uncertain

Bally’s Corp. is still trying to secure the needed funding to build a multilevel podium topped by a plaza at the $2.1 billion ballpark the Athletics are building on the south Strip.

The Las Vegas Stadium Authority called for a board meeting on Wednesday to discuss the matter to ensure some form of a first-class plaza opens along with the ballpark in 2028.

“We did call the meeting today because we left our meeting in August a plan in place that has some uncertainty attached to it,” Hill said. “We want to have a conversation about that, talk about a plan, walk through a set of potential decisions that the parties on the site are going to have to make and potentially more as well.”

Bally’s, which leases the site on the southeast corner of Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard from landowner Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc. (GLPI), is still facing funding uncertainty when it comes to the to the podium on the northwest corner of the 35-acre site.

The structure would feature a three-level parking garage located underneath a plaza that is planned to feature retail, entertainment and dining spaces. The structure is expected to cost north of $200 million to build, according to project plans submitted to Clark County.

GLPI offering funds

GLPI has offered to fund the podium and the shared access way between the ballpark and the Bally’s project, but that is conditioned on the A’s and Bally’s figuring out a few outstanding business items, Brandon Moore, president and chief operating officer of GLPI, said during the meeting. Moore said the estimated cost that GLPI would fund for the podium and other project element is between $200 million and $250 million.

“I think it’s an important physical structure to attach,” Moore said. “So there are a couple of key pieces of infrastructure that GLPI has offered to fund. Our funding agreement is conditioned on a couple of business items being settled between Bally’s and the A’s.”

Moore said that they agreed to provide funding for other key elements of the site for Bally’s, while they work with the A’s to figure out the business decisions the two sides are working on.

The A’s, Bally’s and GLPI agreed the board meeting wasn’t the right environment to negotiate the outstanding issues.

Ready to go

Nick Tomasino, senior vice president of development and construction for Bally’s, said during the meeting they have some of the permits in for the podium and selected Tutor Perini Corp. as their general contractor for the podium project and is set to go once the funding from GLPI is confirmed.

During an August stadium authority meeting Bally’s committed to building the podium, with Tomasino telling the board that they were in the final stages of securing the needed funding to proceed with construction.

Before that meeting an unnamed entity was in talks to purchase Bally’s project, but the deal was not finalized ahead of the August stadium authority meeting and a Clark County Commission meeting where the entitlements for the podium were approved.

The podium is one phase of a multiphase plan by Bally’s to build mixed use development, a theater and a hotel on the 26 acres surrounding the A’s ballpark, which will take up 9 acres of the site. The overall cost of Bally’s master plan for the site is $1.19 billion. The makeup of the podium could change as the process to determine the right fit moves forward, Moore said.

The A’s previously took over the responsibility from Bally’s to build a six-story parking garage that will feature 1,500 spots and central utility plant, which accounts for $45 million worth of work.

Interim plaza

Due to the lingering financial uncertainty surrounding Bally’s, the A’s once again are considering an interim plan for a plaza area that would serve as a temporary gathering place and entrance to the club’s stadium.

“We’ve found ourselves needing to have a contingency plan,” A’s senior advisor Sandy Dean said.

Dean said they have a few different interim plans that are in varying stages of planning.

If the A’s have to go with a temporary plaza, they will need to know it needs to go forward in December. That would allow for proper time to obtain permits for escalators and elevators that would transport fans from below the stadium in a temporary plaza, to the main entrance of the ballpark. Dean said the interim plaza would need to be permitted by June to allow it to be built on time for Opening Day in April 2028.

A temporary plaza would be about 38 feet below where the main entrance of the ballpark will be located.

Moore said that GLPI only saw the planned interim plaza plan on Monday and they need further time to review it.

“We’re committed to making sure the A’s can get into their stadium on Day 1,” Moore said.

Moore said that the A’s and Bally’s have been trying to figure out the podium/plaza plan for the past few months and now it’s time for GLPI to be involved with those. Any temporary plaza plan proposed by the A’s would need to be approved by GLPI, Moore said.

A’s ballpark

As Bally’s figures out the funding for their project, construction on the A’s Las Vegas ballpark has been progressing, with the project remaining on schedule for 2028 opening.

On Oct. 27, crews installed the first two pieces of the fourth of five roof truss arches that will support the roof of the stadium.

The fourth truss arch is scheduled to be completed in the coming weeks, with the fifth and final truss arch planned to be installed by year’s end.

Crews have been installing escalators around the stadium and have been carrying out the framing of interior spaces.

The majority of the seating risers have been installed around the ballpark, with the last portions of that expected to be installed begining toward the end of the year, once shoring towers, that support the truss arches when they’re initially installed, are removed.

Crews also began work on the parking garage and central utility plant, with the initial groundwork, concrete and utility work underway on the southeast corner of the site. The building permits for the garage and utility plant are expected to be approved at the end of this month or early December, Dean said.

Contact Mick Akers at [email protected] or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.