Sports central

Utilities infrastructure to be developed after environmental studies

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If the Ultimate Sports Resort goes up as proposed in North Las Vegas, it will virtually double the city's property assessment, according to the developers' numbers and Nevada Department of Taxation figures.

Ultimate Sports Entertainment Inc. is working to put together a financing package for a $4 billion project that will feature two sports arenas, an aquatic center, three multi-use facilities, a driving range, a bowling alley, an ice rink, batting cages, climbing walls, virtual reality games, as well as 17,000 parking spaces, 5,500 hotel rooms, 500 luxury condominiums and a 150,000-square-foot casino complete with a 50,000-square-foot, glass-enclosed non-smoking area.

The facility may employ as many as 20,000 people, and would require 3,000 to 5,000 construction workers to build.

The organization claims the overall development will be the largest facility of its kind in the world and will include the largest permanent sports product expo and halls of fame for several professional and Olympic sports.

The project would be located about a mile west of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, on 116 acres north of the Interstate 15 and Las Vegas Beltway intersection.

According to the most recent figures from the state, as published in the city's 2006 Community Report, North Las Vegas' assessed value last year stood at just under $4.8 billion.

Matt Rose, president and CEO of Ultimate Sports Entertainment, said he believes city officials appreciate the scale of his project.

"We have been referred to as the lightning rod that will attract a plethora of commercial and resort-related development," he said during a Feb. 1 telephone interview. "I'm overjoyed and excited and overwhelmed -- just this montage of different states of mind."

Renderings of the project on Ultimate Sports' Web site show a development that will be centered on a large square bordered by four tall, curvilinear hotel buildings, with the arenas and other amenities situated around them. The tallest buildings are likely to rise 450 feet from the desert floor.

"We'd like at least 50 stories," Rose said. "Would we like to go higher? FAA willing, sure."

The Federal Aviation Administration is not the only agency that will have a say over the buildings' altitude. Rose said talks with Nellis Air Force Base representatives also were on the agenda.

"They have been very willing to talk," he said.

For the next several months, he said, soil testing and other environmental studies will be conducted, after which, for perhaps another six months, the electricity grid, sewage and water systems and other infrastructure will be in development.

At that time, perhaps in October, a groundbreaking could be held.

During a Jan. 26 press conference, Rose said he hopes construction would be completed in 20 to 30 months after groundbreaking.

He said the plans also will be presented to public safety agencies and other service providers, such as the North Las Vegas Fire and Police departments.

Sharon Powers, president and chief executive officer of the North Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, said she hopes the developers will be willing to attend a board of directors meeting to discuss their plans.

North Las Vegas Mayor Michael Montandon, who attended the press conference at which plans were revealed, said the speedway has brought in hundreds of thousands of fans over a single weekend.

"So when another destination sports entertainment comes in here, it's not too much of a stretch for us to say the basics of the business model work for us," he said.

Rose addressed concerns about possible college athletic competitions. The National Collegiate Athletic Association and several professional sports leagues have rules barring events at venues associated with casinos.

"We think that we are separated sufficiently, but the reality is we don't need them," Rose said. "I hope we could be the beneficiary of those competitions and come to a common ground, but I respect their positions."

Rose said as far as he was concerned, he already had a wealth of sports available for the site.

Among the organizations Rose said have expressed interest in making use of the development are the World Boxing Council, the Arena Football League, the United States Bowling Congress, the National Softball Association, the Roller Skating Association International and a host of groups that are recognized as the national governing bodies for Olympic participation.

The groups, Rose said, represent roughly 22 million athletes around the world.

Ultimate Sports' board of advisors includes representatives from the Perini Building Co., the Legg Mason financial firm, Multicast Networks Inc., the Navegante Group management company and two dozen sports associations.

The Web site, www.ultimatesportsresort.com, includes a variety of renderings of the project. Rose pointed out that some were done before the site was finally set and wrongly suggest its placement along Las Vegas Boulevard.